


Haven't I seen you before?

by cheshyrekaat



Series: You have seen me, before. [2]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Demisexuality, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Emotional idiots, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M mentioned, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Why did I do this to myself?, m/f mentioned, threesome implied, violent people being sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-06-09 13:31:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 55,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6909412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheshyrekaat/pseuds/cheshyrekaat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James runs into someone interesting and she ends up in q-branch.  Who is she and where has he seen her before?<br/>Q adores her, Alec is intrigued and James isn't quite sure what to think of this person who turns out to be more dangerous than all the double-ohs put together.<br/>This is much more a story about personal relationships than a mission fic.<br/>Enjoy</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unexpected

The first time he saw her, he thought she looked vaguely familiar, but couldn’t recall any time he’d actually seen or met her so he wrote it off as nothing.

She worked in a coffee shop that he liked to frequent when he was in town. They had good coffee, a small company that wasn’t over commercialized. He most often saw her in the mornings while she was working her way through the caffeine deprived masses who valued her efficiency and friendly but not overly-accommodating attitude. She knew several of the cafe’s patrons by name.

She had extremely attractive, if somewhat androgynous features. High cheekbones, moderately full lips on a mobile mouth. Sharp nose, perfectly proportionate to her forehead and jawline. Her face was not round or square, too angular to be called oval and too long to be heart-shaped. Pale skin, blue-gray eyes and short, messily not-styled hair that showed glints of red and white under the lights. She wore no makeup, and the uniform of the shop gave no sense of her style. The only personal touch about her that he could see is her jewelry, which she wears only in her ears, multiple piercings, enough to be unusual, but nothing like the gaged plugs that the youth of the day wore.

Her figure was not obvious, at first. She was tall with a frame to match it. She had broad shoulders and shapely hips. He’d say she had an hourglass figure, but she was just a bit too sturdy. Athletic lines and lovely assets.  
He began to actually pay attention to her when he saw someone bump into her unexpectedly. She reacted swiftly, defensively. She managed to check herself before she actually retaliated, but he’d spotted that she had braced and gone for a weapon that he’d managed to miss her carrying. She had swiftly recalled herself and graciously accepted the apology she received from her co-worker.

She was back to her usual temperment in seconds. But he was trained to see such things, and so he began to watch more closely.

}*{

She moved around her work-space with easy fluidity. Her motions were sure with long practice and muscle memory. She was very at ease in her space, with her clientele and with her co-workers. She controlled her space very well and didn’t bump into people or touch them unnecessarily and neither did they bump or touch her. It was interesting to watch, as the rest of the staff bumped and touched each other frequently.

She was armed. He was a bit abashed that he’d not noticed until she’d actually gone for a weapon, but now that he was looking, she carried two, obviously, and more he imagined that he’d not know about unless they were quite a bit more intimate.

She had one knife that she kept at the small of her back, in a horizontal sheath for better concealment. She also carried something around her ankle. He wasn’t quite sure what it was, but it didn’t seem to be a gun, so he thought it was possibly a back up knife. She didn’t fondle her weapons, at all, but carried them comfortably, apparently long used to them. She also kept a heavy duty box cutter in her front pocket that she used often, only for work appropriate tasks.

He had to admit that he was a little perturbed that she paid him no attention. Not anymore attention than she paid to anyone else, anyway. She never even gave him a once over. She had assessed him as a client the first time he’d come in and that was that. She was polite, even friendly and flirtatious, but nothing that he could call unprofessional. He knew his own charms and was used to being found attractive by all sexes, so it was an oddity that he tried not to take personally. After all, he watched her ignore overtures from others all too often and he’d made none of his own.

His curiosity was peaked. She was always calm and in control in the face of the morning chaos as she directed her troops and kept her customers cycling quickly through the queue, satiating them with coffee and pastry while effectively shutting down any unhappy customers with a firm voice that often left them feeling foolish. She reminded him of Q when he was running a mission in q-branch.

He wondered if her control ever broke, what she was like away from work, what her personality was because no one was like this all the time. This was rather boring and uninteresting on the surface. He wanted to know just how comfortable she was with her weapons and why she didn’t allow people to touch her.  
He was going to find out.

}*{

He must admit that he’d been hoping for a stronger reaction.

He began with a very small touch that seemed accidental but wasn’t. It was very calculated when his hand landed over hers on the lid of the coffee she was pushing toward him across the counter. He wasn’t sure how she would react, but she did nothing that he expected.

She didn’t flinch or snatch her hand away. She didn’t get defensive, or glare at him. She merely looked at his hand on her for a moment before looking up at him and smiling, asking, “Was there something else that I could get for you?”

He slowly removed his hand from hers and answered, “No, thank you.”

She removed her own hand from his cup told him to enjoy his day with her usual professional warmth. He nodded and moved over to the condiment bar, hiding that he was a bit nonplussed by her reaction. He was almost sure there would have been something more given how she was so adept at not touching anyone.

He was mulling it over while stirring a bit of milk into his coffee when he noticed that she had her eyes canted in his direction. The half-smile on her face had nothing to do with the customer in front of her. He hummed a little to himself, smiling on the way out the door.

It was the most attention that he’d received from her so far.

~}*{~

Of course she had noticed him the first time he came into the cafe.

He came in during the morning rush, not quite at the same time every day, but always relatively early. He was well dressed, well spoken and quite comfortably in command of himself and the space around him. He was calm and indifferent to the buzz of life going on around him.

He was amazingly attractive for as rugged as his features were. He was just an inch or two taller than she was with honed ultra-masculine features. Square jaw, full lips on a large, mobile mouth. A nose that was still well shaped for all that it had obviously been previously broken was set below a broad forehead and expressive brows that were often still. His eyes were deep set and an icy, piercing blue. His hair had a fairly typical male style, light blond with a touch of gray encroaching on the rest of the color. His suits set off his lean, well-shaped frame quite well. His style is understated, as though he knew he didn’t need to advertise or be flash.

She knew the moment that his attention fell on her in more than a cursory way. One of her employees had bumped into her unexpectedly and her instincts demanded that she defend herself. She had managed to check the motions and return to her usual posture in seconds, but it was done. He was trained to notice such things and so he did.

It was a bit unfortunate that she now had the attention of James Bond. 

She guessed that she shouldn’t be surprised that he didn’t know who she was. She was, after all, the best kept secret of MI6.


	2. Can I get more information?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec, meet Devina

The information that he’d found on her was sparse.

Her name was Devina Nicole Fredericks. Born in 1983, Anchorage, AK, to a United States citizen and a British citizen. She’d retained dual citizenship until 2005 when she’d moved to London upon graduating from MIT with her second Master’s Degree.

She had no living family, the death of her parents and brother being reported in 1988 after a fatal car crash that had left them dead and her in the hospital before being taken in by extended family in London.  
Once in London, she had attended good schools and received exceptional marks. She’d returned to the states for university years before her peers. She attended MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her grades there were exceptional as well, Master’s in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. She had one incident in her records, disciplinary action after disappearing without notice for two weeks.

There was no records from 2005 until two years ago when she’d opened the cafe where she worked.  
James couldn’t help but wonder what had happened in the intervening years.

}*{

He began to vary the time of day that he went into the cafe. 

He learned her schedule and saw how she was when the shop wasn’t rushed. She was a natural flirt, never letting it be personal or inappropriate. She was quick witted and laughed freely. She sometimes took deep breaths when speaking to irate customers, brief flickers of temper showing in her eyes.

He finally introduced himself on a day he was in and the cafe wasn’t busy. He ordered an espresso drink, thinking it would give them an extra moment to chat. He asked her to surprise him.

She made the drink herself, as she often did in the mornings once the rush was over. Her smile was genuine as she passed his drink over the bar to him. 

“I made you a double Americano with a splash of steamed milk. I noticed that you don’t put sugar in your coffee, and this will be a little more rich than what you are used to,” she explained his order to him.

“Thank you, Devina.” He’d heard her name tossed around by the people she worked with as well as by other customers.

Her smile widened and amusement took up residence in her eyes as she told him, “Call me Devi.”

It was not a moniker that he had heard her called by, before. He smiled and took a sip of his drink. It was delicious. 

“Thank you, Devi, this is wonderful. I will have to get it, again.”

She was still smiling as she went back to the next customer who had come in and he decided to get on about his day. He wondered if Alec would have any more insight than he did about her.

}*{

She watched James leave and signaled one of the other employees to come and make the next customer’s coffee. She had a message to send. 

She walked to the back room and retrieved her phone, quickly accessing her messaging program and typing out a text.

`007 will have to be briefed. He’d digging, and I’d rather not have to kill him.-D`

She put her phone back in her locker, knowing that it could be some time before she received a reply. 

Her ties with MI6 may have begun in childhood, but she had no illusions as to who she was to them. She was a ghost. If she didn’t remain a ghost it was possible they’d try to lay her to rest.

She’d be damned if she let that happen. She’d take them with her.

~}*{~

This morning, James was in a bit of a rush. He’d drug a protesting Alec in before their early morning flight out of the country.

It was earlier than he’d ever been in the cafe, directly after the doors were unlocked at 0500. He tuned out Alec’s grumbling as he took in the shop empty of customers, a pallet of goods on the floor and someone not Devina behind the counter. 

Alec suddenly stopped speaking and move from his side in a predatory fashion. He’d zeroed in on Devina, who was climbing some shelves putting goods away. He smirked and waited to see what would happen. He had told Alec about Devina and wanted to see what they would make of each other. If nothing else, the added dynamic might be a catalyst for a change in their interactions. 

He settled back to see how this went. 

}*{

Alec knew he was winging about absolutely nothing as he followed James into the cafe. He just wanted to get out on mission, really. Grumbling at James was a bonus, though. What were friends for, anyway, if not to annoy the piss out of one another?

He looked around curiously, knowing that James was here often and looking for this mysterious woman that had caught his attention, spotting a shapely figure climbing the shelves.

She was perched quite precariously on a step ladder. Her right foot on the top step, her left actually on the shelving. She was reaching up and to the left, pushing a bag of coffee bean into place and using her right arm to balance.

She was attractive, but not flashy. Her clothing fit but wasn't revealing. Black trousers and a sleeveless vest showed smooth skin and toned muscle that had more bulk than he was used to. Her ears were pierced by steel and wore work boots that were delightfully scuffed and well used. He wondered what she did for that effect because it wasn’t from working in a coffee shop.

He took the information and processed it in a blink, thinking he could see why James was attracted, but not why he thought she was unusual. She wobbled a bit and he moved to steady her before she fell.

He certainly found out why she was unusual.

The moment his hand made contact with her he was shifting to catch her left wrist as she was suddenly, solidly balanced on her right foot, braced wit her left as she swung her fist straight down and back toward his face. He took a step back, still holding her wrist as her left foot came off the shelf. He tugged her off balance, intending to catch her as she fell and keep her from kicking him but he was thrown off balance as she suddenly reversed the direction her foot was swinging and used it to push off the shelves and fling her full weight into him. As he stumbled and caught his balance, she got her feet on the floor and her right elbow slammed back into his diaphragm. He grit his teeth, refusing to loose his breath and double over. He quickly moved the wrist he was still holding behind her back and wrapped his right arm tightly around her torso and narrowly missed getting hit squarely in the face by her thrown back head. He had her left arm and upper body secured but could feel that the fight was far from over by the tension held in her body. 

This was far from how he expected his morning to go.

She had not stopped moving. He felt her right hand land on his thigh and her thumb dug in and he felt a responding pain seer down his knee and up into his groin. He grunted and let go of her, pushing her forward and removing himself from her reach. She whipped around and settled on the balls of her feet, ready for what he chose to do next. Her eyes swept him and widened just enough for him to notice and she flicked her gaze over to James and back to him. She took in his posture once more and settled back on her heels, hands going into a neutral position.

She looked over at James, smiling and said, “Good morning, James, who’s your friend?” She was waving off her co-worker at the same time. Alec was baffled by the change in her demeanor. 

“Devina, this is Alec.” James introduced him, keeping his face under control, smiling pleasantly, also relaxing into a neutral posture as he came down from being ready to come to either her or Alec defense. He really wasn’t sure.

She looked at Alec once again and held her hand out to shake, “Alec, pleasure to meet you.” 

He reached out to take her hand and turn it to kiss the back of it as he did with any attractive woman he met and received another surprise. Before he could process it, she had her thumb slot to his, fingers clasped around the base of his palm and her index finger was pressed against the inside of his wrist. He almost balked at the strangely dominant gesture but it was gone in a moment. 

She was once again self-contained and he stared at James in question for a moment before turning back to Devina as she made her way behind the counter, grabbing and pulling on a black, short sleeved polo shirt and then and apron over it while saying, “Alright, James, Alec, what can I get for you, today?” She smiled at her co-worker and winked at her, gesturing that’d she’d take care of these particular customers.

He followed James, who absolutely laughing at him, albeit silently, to the counter. He deserved it. He’d not been caught so off guard in years. 

To say he was curious was an understatement. He had a burning desire to know who this unassuming woman was. She had gotten the attention of two of the most dangerous men in the world without even trying. As far as he knew, James hadn’t ever even had a whole conversation with her.

There was a mystery here that he wanted solved. Too bad it would have to wait.

}*{

Well, James thought, that was certainly something to add to the information he’d been trying to fill in about her.  
James was briefly pained by the easy way she had shaken Alec’s hand, thinking back to how he’d handled the touch he’d actually forced onto her. He’d not touched her since then, respectfully, but he wondered now if he should have just introduced himself.

She had definitely surprised them both. She had moved with beautifully un-telegraphed movements. He had not expected her to respond with quite that level of efficiency, but he had expected violence, given what had sparked his interest in her in the first place. He was definitely amused that Alec had been caught off guard, but he deserved it, he’d been told how she responded to unexpected touch.

Overall, he felt that she’d had a positive reaction to Alec. Once they were introduced, she was all smiles and professionalism, as genuine with Alec as she’d been with James. She’d stopped fighting before she’d seen James, but it was just another thing for them to figure out. She was proving to be more interesting every time he saw her.

Alec had picked up his coffee from the bar where he carefully waited for Devina to remove her hand before he picked it up. There was a slight surprised on his face and he turned his cup toward James at his raised eyebrow. His name was on the cup and it was spelled correctly. It was a rare thing that someone got it right without being told.

James turned back to where she was making his coffee and smiled at her. She held his eyes as she slid his cup onto the bar. Rather than retreat, she rested her hand, palm down next to his cup. Her eyes were bright with challenge and she was grinning as he cautiously reached for his beverage. This was new behavior and he wasn’t sure what it meant. As his hand slid around the beverage, she rolled her hand so that her palm was facing the back of his and brushed her fingertips in between his knuckles. It was a light, firm stroke and it blazed across his nerve endings like nothing he’d experienced. His eyes flicked to the touch and back to her face as she stepped back and said “I’ll look forward to seeing you both, again.”

He nodded and turned back to Alec, unable to keep the smug smile off his face as they made their way out and she went back to putting the goods away. He had a feeling that he and Alec would be back in record time.

}*{

She hummed softly to herself, reviewing what her morning had held so far. Not only was James Bond looking into her, but now Alec Trevelyan, as well. It might be time for her to have a meeting. They were interesting, and she didn’t want this to be a conflict, as diverting as it may be.

Alec was James, done casually. The same height, same rugged attractiveness, but showing just a hint of scruff. A shadow of stubble, hair a bit more shaggy, jeans and a button up rather than suits. Also blond, with blue eyes, both just a shade darker than James. He seemed more relaxed, but she knew that was a sham. He was every bit the spy and killer that James was.

She sighed as she went back to shelving the inventory, thinking of the meetings she’d be having later. Now that she’d met them both, there was no doubt in her mind that a preemptive movement was necessary. She didn’t exist and she knew they wouldn’t realize the danger they put her and themselves in by trying to prove that she did.

Tanner was who she needed. She had to make sure that the new M had been read into her status, as she hadn’t actually been called in since Olivia had been killed. Then, she’d meet with Tristan, known as Q, to make sure he was informed and in the loop. He was the only other who knew she worked for MI6, much less who she really was.   
It might be time to become a regular agent. Could even be fun. More car chases, anyway.

She blew a kiss in the direction of the camera above the door.


	3. Meeting old friends.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's throw poor Tanner into the mix.

Q leaned back in his chair, tension evident in his frame as he reviewed the video feed from Devina’s cafe. He couldn’t decide if this was a disaster or a miracle. He supposed that would depend on how is was pursued. There was no way that 006 or 007 would not poke at this until one of them got killed.

He could see that she had caught them badly off guard and they would want to know why. He knew that 007 had already looked into her civilian records, which he knew showed little (he knew how to protect his agents, thank you very much). It would only be a matter of time before he started using MI6 resources to try and find the missing pieces.

Well, she’d never wanted a normal life, had she? Otherwise, she would have stayed in Olivia’s office when she’d been told and not been out tagging along after agents and popping up in q-branch unexpectedly. This was like a neon sign, reminding them all that she was out there, and nothing could stay secret forever. 

Q felt like maybe he should have taken a bit more initiative on this situation. He had known that 007 had been into her cafe frequently over that past weeks, but the feed always showed normal customer barista interaction between the two of them. He wondered what had triggered the interest. Maybe he’d ask her.

Now that 006 was involved and had been almost taken down by her in less than a minute, he would be burning to know how she could do such a thing to a trained and seasoned agent. Really, it shouldn’t have happened. All three of them were over-trained, though, so he supposed no other outcome could be expected.

That he hadn’t yet heard from 006 and 007 meant that they were going to try on their own, first. He would have to check how she wanted to handle the information dissemination since it was her cover at question. That MI6 had no records on her would just paint her as a threat. 

He would call her on her break. He knew she was expecting it.

}*{

She had just received a text from Tanner, setting up an early afternoon meeting when her phone lit up in her hand.

She answered it without pause and said, “Did you enjoy the show?” The smile evident in her voice.

“Of course I did, but you know why I am concerned,” was the response.

“Yes, Q, I do know. I have a meeting with Tanner this afternoon. Dinner?”

“Yours or mine?” Q asked.

“Mine,” she said, “you haven’t seen the new place and I haven’t cooked for you in awhile.”

“Acceptable, what time?” was the quick response.

“When you can is fine, my sleeping habits haven’t changed. I’ll be up.”

“Excellent, see you tonight.”

She hung up the phone without further comment. She quietly finished the cigarette she’d been smoking out back of the cafe on her break. This afternoon would be good, tonight would be better. 

She made her way back inside to finish her work shift.

}*{

Out of habit, Q delete her number from his call history. Not that anyone could access it, but they had both been trained to caution. There was no question about his involvement with her, Tanner knew where he’d come from. He was at MI6 because of Devina, after all. 

He’d have to meet with Tanner and then they would brief M. Q wasn’t sure if M had been read in on Devina’s status before Olivia had been killed, but if he hadn’t, it was Tanner and Q’s job to fill him in. She hadn’t been called in a while, and that wasn’t because they hadn’t needed her. He assumed that meant either M didn’t know, or didn’t want to use a ghost black bag operative to compete missions.

There were no files on the missions that she had complete, unless Tanner had some paper files somewhere. He shouldn’t, they would have been quite a risk, but that didn’t mean Olivia hadn’t left something about her legacy to MI6. She’d been proud of what Devina had accomplished, even if it was not the life she would have chosen for her. Devina was good at it, and that was all that mattered in the end.

On that train of thought, he pushed back from his desk and made his way to the administrative branch to speak with Tanner, M’s chief of staff. 

Once he reached Tanner’s office, he knocked on the frame around the open door before walking in. Tanner looked up from the paperwork in front of him as Q closed the door behind him and approached his desk and slid into one of the guest chairs.

Q looked at Tanner, “You know why I’m here.”

Tanner sighed, “Yes, I do. I have a meeting with her in three hours. Do you have some input?”

Q smiled, “Of course. I have always wanted her to be a formal part of MI6. Now that Olivia has died, that particular danger has passed. We could use her almost anywhere, really. But the field is where she excels.”

Tanner nodded in agreement, “That is very true. And if she is anything like the other agents, she’ll want things to do during down time. You could have her in q-branch, then. M does know about her, but has been reluctant to call on her so soon after the inquiry.”

Q’s expression soured, “Will he be amenable to adding her to the program?”

“I am certain that he will. He has bemoaned more than once not having her abilities readily available. She will need to go through the fomalities, I’m afraid. Will she object?”

“She won’t. I think she will be amused by everything but combat assessment. That, she will not be very pleased with. I do have something for you to see, though, that you will find amusing.”

Q pulled up the morning’s footage from Devina’s cafe on his tablet and slid it over to Tanner. Tanner picked it up curiously, and hit play. He chuckled as he watched it play out. 

“I don’t think I have ever seen that look on either 006 or 007’s face. That must have been a surprise for them.”

“Yes, I imagine so. Bond has already started poking around in her public files. It will be a matter of time before he starts looking for her with MI6 resources. I expect things will escalate when they return from their current mission.”

“Well, Q, I guess you’d better start making up her files, then, while I bring M up to date and tell him what we are offering her.”

“Acknowledged. I will leave out her connection to MI6, I think.”

“Of course.”

Q smiled at the idea of confounding the other agents with files of nothing but black ink. This would be fun. 

}*{

Devina was waiting for Tanner when he walked into the pub. She had, contrary to training, chosen a table in the middle of the floor, a high top, sitting in the chair facing the bar, back to the windows. 

She was wearing black, tailored trousers with a richly colored, royal blue waistcoat styled to be worn as a top without a shirt. Her black jacket was hung neatly over the back of her chair. She was comfortable in the late lunch crowd, looking at a menu and glancing up once in a while, as though looking for her lunch partner. Which she was.

Tanner joined her at the table and smiled broadly at her as she stood to shake his hand before sitting across from her. 

“Devina, lovely to see you, again. It’s been too long.”

“Indeed it has, Bill. How have you been?” she asked as she handed him the menu that had been waiting for him.

“I’ve been well, could use a little more time at home, as usual, but things could always be worse.”

“Melissa and Charlotte are well, then? That’s wonderful.”

“Yes, quite well. I am fortunate to have such an understanding wife and daughter.”

Their waiter appeared and took there order and they made small talk until their food appeared. Once they had eaten a bit, they got down to business.

“So, I hear that you have had contact with the Chaos Twins,” Tanner ventured.

“Yes,” she responded, “I have. Bond at least has already started digging and I believe the Trevelyan will be helping him as soon as they return. Do you have a proposal for me?”

“I do. Q is taking care of your ‘files’ as we speak. Your history, of course will leave out the pertinent bits, but I feel they should be told, off record. They both had a connection to your grandmother and will not take it well if kept from them. As for your mission files, well, we both know they don’t exist.”

“Alright. I am aware of who they both were to my grandmother, as well, I agree to telling them, off record. I am sure that Q will have a wonderful time with my files, but I need to see them so that I don’t contradict anything he does put in them. What is going to be done about my position going forward?”

“M, Q and myself would like to bring you in as an agent. M had not called you in, recently, because it was too close to the inquiry we went through after that mess with Silva. But, we feel that now the danger of your associations are gone, we can bring you formally into MI6.”

Devina sat back in her chair, thoughtful. “Two things,” she said. “Is there room in the 00-program, and does Q not want me in his branch?”

Tanner grinned, “Q would love to have you in his branch, but he knows that you excel in the field. We thought that during your down time you could have access to the tech and labs if you wanted.

“As for the 00-program. The program is currently full. We want you to keep you 000 designation. After all, you are a bit more than the 00 agents, nor will you ever be a run of the mill field agent.”

“Does that mean you will be sending me on the same kind of missions that I have always been on? How will you handle that with the other agents?”

“You will be officially a part of q-branch. Everything else is classified. You will remain a ghost and 000 a rumor,” Tanner said crisply.

“I see,” Devina said. “If that is how you want it, I have no objections. The other agents will go mad, I am sure, and I don’t imagine that Bond and Trevelyan will stop with the information that you give them. I expect, though, that they will keep what they find to themselves.”

“I can assure you, they will. Or at least only speak of it to those with the proper clearance. Of whom there are four, including yourself.”

Devina nodded, “Alright, when would you like me to report in?”

“As soon as you are able,” Tanner said promptly.

“Give me a few days to settle my cafe, then I’ll be in,” Devina said decisively.

“I look forward to seeing you at the home office.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [The Chaos Twins by Kryptaria, rayvanfox for CariZee]


	4. I'm happy to see you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Decoy flats, terrible technology and friends for life.

Q knocked on the door of the building sitting on the satellite coordinates that had been text to him earlier in the day. He knew better than to try and actually open the door himself. He wasn’t a boundary ignoring 00-agent after all. 

The door was pulled open and before he could get a word out, he was engulfed into a warm embrace from the woman on the other side. She pulled back and held up a finger before he could say anything, Devina pulled out her phone, accessed a program and gestured at the door frame. He looked at her in question and she rolled her eyes. She took he his right hand and pressed his middle finger to a spot on the outside of the door frame and then stepped out into the hallway, pulling the door closed behind her and he heard the lock click into place. She then placed his left thumb in the middle of the post of the door handle and wrapped the rest of his fingers around the handle. She pressed a button on her phone and then stepped back and gestured for him to open the door.  
He grinned as he realized that she’d built an odd set of biometric scanners into her doorway. He opened the door and stepped through, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her along with him. This time he hugged her and he kicked the door closed behind them. 

After a few moments, they untangled themselves grinning and she showed him the way to the kitchen where she had started cooking and pointed him to a stool set along her cooking space. As he sat, she pulled a beer out of the refrigerator for him and popped the top before she passed it over and retrieved her own. She leaned her elbows on the counter and grinned her Cheshire Cat grin at him.

“Are you ready for this, darling?” she asked.

“That depends on what this is,” he quipped back. 

“Well, I was talking about showing you the house security, but it can wait until after we eat. Then, movies on the couch, yes?”

He nodded his agreement to that plan, “What are you cooking? It smells divine.”

“Just simple chicken alfredo, I’m afraid. Nothing too fancy, this time. I barely made time to run and get this.”

“Sure, sure,” he said, “you made that sauce from scratch, didn’t you? And I wouldn’t be surprised if you had made the pasta, as well. You love to cook.”

She smiled at him, “The separation has been dreadful. I am so glad it’s over.”

“So am I, love. I am glad that you are coming back. I hear that you are with me, now?”

“Hrm, yes, while on home soil. I am pretty sure it will be when I feel like being there off mission. It sounds like I will remain the rumor that I have always been. I am alright with it, but some will figure it out. Two, in particular, since their interest is already peaked.”

“Well, I am sure you will be out the door, almost as soon as you walk in. I have heard that M wanted you several times, recently.”

“Wonderful. Does that mean I can dodge psych?”

“Unfortunately, no. You will have to go through the formalities. I am pretty sure you will not have to combat assess, though.”

“Oh, good. That’s always the hardest part. No one ever believes it until I beat them to death. It’s always a fluke. Damn agents and their pride. I can’t help that I am a better man than they are,” she says with a wink at the end.

He laughs, knowing that she isn’t really joking. She actually is a better man than most. It was an amazing thing to see, people reacting to her. They had no idea what she was or why they treated her the way that they did, but she, Q, and Tanner knew and M would learn. No one else, though. He wondered if Bond and Trevelyan would ever know. Later, he thought, that was for later.

“When do you report in?” he asked.

“Oh, I need a few days to settle the cafe, so I’ll be in on Monday.”

“What are you doing with it?” he asked. She loved her cafe.

“I am just going to ‘quit,’ yeah? They don’t know I own the place, so I will just leave the manager to hire someone else. I’ll still be able to keep an eye on things now and then.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” He said as she was serving up their food. 

She put a plate in front of him and another beer, grabbed her own food and beverage and sat down next to him to eat. 

“Are all my prints still on file for biometrics?” she asked.

“Yes, and the override we cooked up on the doors with bio-readers is still in place.”

“Oh, excellent. That could be some fun. You and I are still the only two written into that code? I can’t wait to prank some agents! Especially being the new boffin they think they get to torment for tech.”

They continued to chat about various projects that were going on in q-branch and projects she had going on in her work shop. They hadn’t been able to just be with one another for far too long and they were happy to catch up. 

They finished up dinner and she offered to show him the security on the house. He nodded agreement and she decided to go back an start with the front door.

It was an ingenious set up. She told him to pick the lock and come in. When he did, there was a small landing on the other side of the door and stairs that went up to the right. He pulled his phone out and sent her a quick text. 

`Should I go up? Is it safe?-T`

`Yes! The decoy is upstairs. Check it out, if you want, then go back out the front door, wait for one min and come in the correct way.-D`

He went up the stairs and it led up to another door, unlocked this time and he went through it into a modest, two bedroom flat. It looked lived in, but he could tell that they weren’t her things but she did come up here often to make sure it looked authentic.

He went back down the stairs and out the front door, waited the requested 60 seconds and put the fingers of his hands where she’d put them earlier and heard the lock disengage and he went back in to her apartment. 

“How did you work that out?” He asked her.

“Well, when you slide in a lock pick, it presses the lever down that interrupts the circuit that keeps the walls open. Rather than having to activate the doors to close, I have to keep them active to be open. That way, if the power is cut, they still close off my place and open access to the decoy. Once the walls have moved, I get a text notification and have to reset the system from my phone or tablet. Thankfully, 6 pays my electric bills,” She grinned at him, obviously pleased with herself. 

He was impressed. Sometimes, he forgot how clever she really was out side the field. But, this was the reason he wanted her in his department whenever he could have her. 

She motioned him into the house and told him about the windows. They were made from one-quarter inch Plexiglas and could only be shimmied open about four inches before the stops that went from the windows, through the frames would hit the end of their slider and wouldn’t budge further. She then showed him how the stops were at the top and the bottom of the movable pane, and could be removed from the inside on one side in order to open the window to get out of the house if one got boxed in. 

She didn’t like the house to be kept closed using electronics, because then she would be vulnerable if the power was cut. Then, all the locks just became locks. She showed him the blind corners, weapons access and how to draw enemies into a kill box. She had escapes built into all the exterior rooms so it would be almost impossible to trap her in the house and almost impossible to get in covertly. 

She had first hand experience that no where was completely secure, so it was more important for her to be able to get out. And now she was showing him. He was warmed through at her show of trust. She had given him access to her home. Complete access. He now knew the vulnerabilities along with the strengths. He was amazed at her ability to trust him this much. She always had, but he was sure that with their recent separation, it would have faded. 

He should have known better. He certainly didn’t trust her any less, after all.

They ended the tour back in the living room, filled with over large furniture and a rather fantastic entertainment system. He noticed her posture change as she set the remote down after starting up the movie they were going to watch. She looked at him, patiently.

He smiled and said, “Devina.”

Her looked sharpened with disapproval and her jaw tightened marginally. He thought she might do that so he decided he shouldn’t tease, they wanted the same thing.

“Devi.” Her whole body relaxed and her face lit up into an open and very real smile that he hadn’t seen in ages. It was like her defenses just dropped.

She kicked her shoes off and came toward him. Once she reached him, she fussed his jacket off while he kicked off his shoes. After she’d draped his jacket over the back of the couch, she looked a question at him and he smiled and nodded an affirmative. Before he was done bobbing his head, she had him turned around and falling back onto the couch with her.

She’d maneuvered them so they were laid out on the couch, both on their left side, with her spooned behind him against the back. Lord it was comfortable and utterly plush. Her right leg slid between his legs and her right arm was already worked under his cardigan, pulling his shirt and vest out from his trousers so that her hand could rest on his bare stomach. Her left arm was curled under him and around his chest while she buried her face into the crock of his right shoulder and neck. She inhaled deeply and sighed out, “Thank you, Tris.” He hummed, content and wondered how long it had been since she’d had this. She was touched starved. He just relaxed back and moved his hands to cover hers, resting back against her as she held him.

She began to relax, slowly. He was warm and comfortable, held by someone he loved and who loved him. He began to doze off, mumbling softly at her, “I’m here.”

}*{

He woke up to her pressing light kisses along the nape of his neck and her hand stroking over his ribs and abdomen. He sighed and was thankful for her very large couch as he struggled and managed to turn over without hitting the floor. When he once again settled, they were no longer touching and they looked at each other from inches away.

“Alright?” he asked.

She nodded, looking more at ease then she had before their nap.

“How long has it been?”

She sighed, smiled slightly and said, “Since the last time.”

He blinked at her, mouth opening in shock. Two years. He knew that she had trouble trusting and touching people, but two years?

“Why?” he asked. He floundered to sit up when she moved. They ended up facing each other from opposite ends of the couch.

“What would you like me to say, Tris? I can’t let anyone that close, and after uni, I can’t replace intimacy with sex, and you know that intimacy is not easy to come by.” She was completely serious, looking at him with an open expression.

He remembered the mess she was, briefly, at uni. When she’d been trying so hard to be what she’d expected to be, rather than what she was. She could do whatever she needed to, in the field, but in her personal life, she worked hard to be true to her nature. He understood, even admired her for that. She wasn’t asexual, but she was close. Physical closeness rarely meant sex to her and that was difficult for a lot of people and she didn’t like to disappoint others, so she kept to herself. 

“Well,” he said, “you won’t have to wait that long, again. I’ll be able to be here when you need that.”

She smiled at him and nodded, “Yes, and I thank you for that. But, I expect you won’t always be. You’ll find someone, eventually, even with the life you lead.”

“Let’s not write history before the present,” he reminded her. “Until then, we will be as we always were. And really, how could I love someone that wasn’t willing to understand us? I’ll never allow a relationship be what comes between us.”

“Alright,” she agreed. “Who knows, maybe I’ll find someone myself, one day.” She winked at him, willing him to take the attempt to lighten the conversation.

He took her cue and chuckled. “Indeed, you might.”

“Another movie before bed?” she asked.

He leaned over and picked up her remote to show his agreement and she shuffled closer while he navigate her entertainment options. 

They spent the rest of the evening cuddled on the couch, laughing and poking fun at the movie they had chosen before heading to bed. The slept curled around each other as they had most times since they met each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really new to this 'writing for others' bit. Any feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	5. Down the rabbit hole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec?

Devina broke off her conversation with her co-worker as she saw James walk into the cafe. She indicated that she would handle his transaction and stepped up to the register. They were in a lull between the before work and the small rush they often got at lunch.

“James, how are you? Haven’t seen you in a few days,” She commented. She figured he and Alec had complete their mission ahead of schedule. She wondered if it was because they wanted to solve the mystery that she presented. She thought that it might. Well, she was about to change the game a bit.

She stepped over to the bar and started to pull an Americano for him and waved away his motion to pay. She smiled at him as he stepped around to the bar to wait for her to finish his drink.

“I’m doing quite well, Devi. We managed to conclude our business ahead of schedule, so are happy to have made it home for the weekend,” he said, smiling back at her.

“You and Alec? That must be nice, to have a weekend together without having to work. Did you two make plans, or are you relaxing in,” she asked, deliberately misunderstanding their relationship. She just wanted to see how he would handle it.

James blinked at her for a moment while she slid his drink across the bar and waited on an answer. 

“I don’t know what Alec is doing,” he said, carefully, “but I am probably going to be relaxing in.”

She raised and eyebrow at him and nodded. 

“Well,” she said, “if he comes by, he can have a drink on me, also. It is my last day.” She grinned at him.

“Oh? What are you moving on to?” He asked her, retrieving his cup from the bar, as she turned to her next set of customers that came in.

She looked at him over her shoulder and said, “I got a tech position at Universal Exports.”

She just managed not to grin as she saw his jaw drop open out of the corner of her eye before he hurried out of the cafe.

}*{

`Be ready for a visitor.-D`

Q was a little confused by the message on his phone, right up until 007 barged into his office. He rolled his eyes, of course. They hadn’t yet report to M, but they’d had time to go to the cafe. She must have told him that it was her last day. He wondered what she’d told Bond to send him barging into his office.

“007,” he said, coldly, “why are you barging into my office? Surely you aren’t so eager to return your equipment.”

James loomed over his desk with his palms flat on the surface. It wasn’t James’ fault that his best friend was far -more intimidating and he wasn’t cowed.

“Devina Fredericks,” James said.

Q made his face blank (she wasn’t his best friend for nothing), “And?” he asked.

“Devina Fredericks. She just told me that she’d gotten a tech position with Universal Exports.”

“And why are you asking me about her?” 

“How did she get a job, here?” James asked.

“You are asking me how someone got hired at Universal Exports. Bond,” he says patiently, “maybe you should ask human resources. I don’t hire techs.”

“You don’t?” James looked a little sheepish and slowly straightened from the desk.

“I don’t,” Q said. “She might even be in another department. There are techs of some kind in every department. Now, do you have your equipment?”

James shook his head, “No, Q, but I will bring it in this afternoon, after we’ve seen M.”

“Alright, then, vacate my office, please,” was Q’s firm reply.

James looked at him a little oddly and mumbled something that might have been an apology before turning and vacating Q’s office.

}*{

Devina laughed at the message on her phone.

`Thanks for the timely warning.-T`

She was sitting out back of the cafe, smoking a cigarette and pretending that she hadn’t spotted the vantage point that Alec was watching her from. She quickly sent back an answer.

`I have a spotter that I am sure will turn into a tail. Can I spend the weekend with you?-D`

`Yes. Want to meet for dinner and loose them after?-T`

`Sounds good to me. They are going to be pissed.-D`

`Especially since I just gave James the impression that I didn’t know who you are.-T`

`7?-D`

`Yes, you know where.-T`

She chuckled as she finished her cigarette, stubbed it and went back inside to finish her shift. 

}*{

Devina smiled as she shoved up the bay door of her workshop. She’d let Alec follow her here, as it could do no harm that he saw her in this place. She’d told James that she’d gotten a tech job. Let them drive themselves crazy for the weekend. She was aware of what information they would be given.

She stepped into the garage bay and looked over at her scrap collection. She thought today was a found art day. She glanced back at the open ally way and decided to make an offer. She walked over to the door, quickly scanning for the best vantage point and finding it. 

She looked right at where she figured he would be and said, “Come in, Alec.” 

She waited for a moment before she turned and went back inside. He’d join her or not. 

She stepped over and rolled out her oxy-acetylene kit. She had both a welding and cutting rig set up and she rolled both over to her work table. She set the regulators and went to hunt up her goggles and gloves before digging into her scrap pile. 

She found a rather large piece that she thought she could stack onto and used for some great negative space and levered it up onto her table. She walked back to the scrap pile and found a few some other promising looking pieces and left them on the table. She knew that Alec would be there when she turned back around.

“Alec, would you mind grabbing me some RG45 out of the cabinet over there? I need the one-sixteenth, please.”

She looked up at him in question and he was right where she thought he would be, about a meter inside the door. He was looking a bit like a deer in the headlights and she smiled, gesturing at her storage cabinet.

“They should be pretty clearly labeled. If you grab some goggles, you can stay while I work on this,” she said as she picked up the soapstone she always left on the table and beginning to sketch some designs out on the sheet of metal in front of her. 

She thanked Alec as he put two rods on the table next to her.

}*{

Alec watched her quietly while she sketched on the metal. He was intrigued, absolutely intrigued. He at least understood now a bit of why she had bulk to her muscle. She’d moved things around her shop with and easy fluidity and little strain. Finally, he just had to ask her.

“How did you know I was there?”

She didn’t look up when she answered him. “I have been kidnapped four times and evaded or countered another three attempts. I know when I am being followed.”

“That,” he hesitated, “is pretty unbelievable.” He didn’t believe it for a second, she was far too blase for it to be the truth.

She grinned at him, “Isn’t it, though? I wasn’t sure, Alec, but I took a chance. And I was right.” 

Alec made a noise of agreement. “What are you doing?”

“Making art. You don’t have to stay if you are bored. I just thought you might be curious. Take a look around if you’d like.”

“Definitely curious,” he responded as he started to wander over to some shelves. He saw what looked like art pieces on the shelves in front of him. She obviously did some found art and she was pretty good at it. He looked over at some other shelves to see what else she had going on in her place.

The next set of shelves were much more interesting to him. The shelves were full of knives and blades of all kinds and lengths. He reached out to pick up a Kukri Machete and snatched his hand back as she spoke to him, again.

“You are fond of knives, Alec?” she asked.

“Yes, I am,” he told her, turning toward her and seeing her come to join him at the shelves. 

She hummed at him while scanning the shelves and uttered a brief, pleased noise as she snatched up a rolled bundle from the shelf below the machete. She turned and handed it to him before walking back to her table.   
He unrolled the bundle and looked up at her confused. She’d handed him a belly band full of throwing knives. He pulled one out and let out a low whistle. They were beautiful. Light and beautifully shaped with just enough handle to get a good grip if you needed to so something other than throw it. He looked up at her to compliment them and saw that she was pointing at the back wall of the shop. He followed her hand with his eyes and saw a target dummy in front of a back drop along the back wall. 

“Have fun,” was all she said.

He fastened the belly band around his mid-section and walked toward the back of the shop. He was enjoying his afternoon, immensely. Too bad James was missing it.

}*{

“Alec!” Devina called out. 

She was finished for the day and was about to close up shop. Alec had been testing out various knives that she’d made all afternoon. It was lovely to see her things being used. She noticed that he’d put all the throwing knives back in the belly band, but he hadn’t put it back on the shelf. She imagined that he was planning to keep them. Good that she’d planned to give them to him, anyway.

“Yes?” he asked, turning from that back of the shop and heading to her at the table.

“I am going to finish up for the day, alright? That means it’s time for you to go,” she told him, bluntly.

He raised and eyebrow at her and nodded his assent, asking her if she needed any help. 

“No, thank you, Alec. I want you to take those knives, though,” she said.

“What knives?” he asked her, looking at her with big, innocent eyes that she knew better than to buy.

“The knives that you haven’t put away on the shelf, Alec,” she was smiling when she said it.

He laughed, asking her, “What are you doing now?”

“Now,” she drawled out, “I am going home to clean up before I have dinner with a friend.”

He nodded, and said, “Well, maybe another time. I hope to see you again.” 

She smiled after him as he made his way out of the shop, wondering how he would react to where he would see her.

Devina sighed, wondering how long it would take him to realize he had no idea how she had known he had followed her as she started to shut her equipment down. She had told him the truth about the kidnappings. It was a calculated risk, but he’d been distracted by the unbelievability of it and the contents of her shop. It was far from the whole truth, but the first one led to the life she had now.

As she pulled the bay door behind her and locked it, she wondered which one of them would be following her home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	6. Who knows?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Devina and Q

James just stared at Alec while he crowed about his afternoon in Devina’s workshop. He had been distracted by pretty, deadly things and hadn’t even gotten an answer to how she even knew she’d been followed that was halfway believable. 

No one got kidnapped that many times. Ever. Not that ended up functional, anyway. 

And, he admit only to himself, he coveted those knives. They were, according to Alec (who wouldn’t allow James to even touch them), perfectly balanced and a delight to use. They were gorgeous, functional and the hilts were somehow decorated without adding weight or ruining the lines of the knives, at all.

Now, they were outside her home, waiting for her to leave. Alec mentioned that she had said she was going out with a friend for the evening. They planned to wait until she left to see what they could find out about her before she came to MI6. 

He’d gone in and had his mission debrief with M and returned his equipment to Q before meeting Alec at their current location. While at the home office, he’d stopped by Human Resources and been completely shut out. He wasn’t able to hack into their records, ether. Damn Q for improving the computer security, anyway.

Tomorrow would be Alec’s turn to give his version of the mission and see Q. Maybe he’d have better luck. Maybe Tanner or Eve would know something about a new employee. Tanner was chief of staff, after all, and Eve was the queen of MI6 unofficial information, aka, gossip.

Ah, there she was. She was wearing jeans and a jacket that went below her hips. She had a small bag with her and was slipping keys into her pocket as she jauntily went down the front steps. She seemed in a good mood as she turned an walked away from the building. He wondered who she was meeting, shaking it off quickly, they had a business to attend to.

}*{

Devina walked into the pub to find Tristan already there. He was sitting in a optimally situated booth where they would both feel comfortable. Her because she could see anyone coming and him because he’d be covered enough to have a surprise ready for anyone that did come their way. It had been said before, they had been trained to caution.

She waved hello to the barman on her way over to the booth. She and Tristan used to come here, often, together and he looked pleased to see them both. Tristan stood and gave her a hug in greeting that she returned before he moved to sit on the opposite side of the booth. She tossed her bag in and sat down.

“And how was your day, love?” she asked, smiling. She knew that James had been in to see him and wanted to know exactly how that had gone.

“It was quite good. James tried to intimidate information out of me, but he doesn’t know, yet, how intimidating my best friend can be. He’s got nothing on you, darling. And your day?”

“Let’s get food and I’ll tell you,” she said, picking up a menu.

Once they had placed their orders and gotten drinks, she launched enthusiastically into telling him about her day. From James visiting the coffee shop and telling him where she’d be working, spotting Alec watching her on her break and him tailing her to the shop. She’d told him how nice it was to see someone enjoying the more deadly things she liked to make and giving him the throwing knives. She told him how both James and Alec had been outside her home when she’d left. 

As if on cue, her phone buzzed with an alert. She checked it and grinned at Tristan.

“They have accessed the decoy. Both of them, which means that you and I are in the clear for the weekend. They won’t know where I’ve gone,” she stated, satisfied.

“You know they will probably go back and look through your shop?” Tristan asked her.

“Of course. It’s not booby trapped, so they will live through it. There also isn’t anything there that can lead them to any truth about me. Except that I make bad art and am overly fond of knives,” she stated very mater of fact about it all.

“Ah yes, I can’t believe you fed Alec that line about being kidnapped,” he chuckled. “Leave it to you to lie with the truth.”

“Is there a better way to lie? He forgot to ask me anything else, which was the point,” she was sly. “They will be told the truth, soon enough. Well, some of the truth,” she qualified.

“Yes,” Tristan agreed, not entirely pleased, “they will. Even that small amount is above their pay grade.” He was -too used to keeping her a complete secret, it was difficult for him to think about others knowing.

“Don’t be sour, Tris, They would have caused problems without the information. Tanner is going to tell them on Monday, yes? Before they run into me at the office, I hope.”

“Yes, Miss Moneypenny will be sending them summons, tomorrow. I would love to know how that conversation is going to go.” 

“Hmmmm, I am looking forward to meeting Miss Moneypenny. She sounds challenging. And don’t you have the administrative offices bugged? I know that I would.”

“Hush, you,” he reprimanded her. “Of course I do. I just rarely access it. And you will completely confound Miss Moneypenny. I look forward to seeing her confidence ruffled.” He winked at her.

Devina sat back at that. She quickly calculated why Tristan would want to ruffle someone’s feathers. It meant that she’d been ruffling his.

“What has she been pushing you about?” she asked, eyes narrowing.

Tristan narrowed his eyes right back and said nothing. Of course, that spoke volumes to her. She knew him, right to the marrow of his bones.

“Ah, I can guess. She hopes to have you as a notch on her bedpost. The young, attractive quartermaster that hasn’t looked at anyone since he’s joined MI6 and everyone assumes has no personal life. How many of them want you as a trophy?” she asked him, voice chilled and face hard.

“About as many of them as are going to want you,” was his tart response. It wasn’t well-done to be a mystery at MI6. He kept his private life just that, private. Not that he had much of one, with his hours. “I am just thankful that the 00s value my professional qualities too much to press me beyond the first couple rejections.”

Her face softened marginally. They should be used to this, by now. “Are we implementing our usual response?”

“No,” he said, regretfully, “we can’t. This isn’t uni. But, I could use you as a wingman, again. I haven’t been out in ages.”

“Wingman it is,” she grinned. “Let’s go out tomorrow night.”

He grinned in response, “Yes, please, I need to have some fun.”

Plans made, they chatted aimlessly and ate their dinners. Once done, they left the pub arm in arm, both alert to all that was happening around them as they returned to his flat.

}*{

Their weekend was largely uneventful. 

She drug him out running and made him keep her company while she worked out. They cooked together, companionably, watched movies and cuddled. They tried to go to her workshop one, but it was being watched by James, this time, so they went on their way and decided to haunt some museums, instead.

They did go out the next night and had a wonderful time. Tristan got lucky and she returned to his flat on her own, waiting up for him to return. 

When he drug himself through the door, smiling and relaxed, she laughed, happy for him. She stood from the couch and tugged him along, divesting them of their clothing on the way to the shower. She got them both cleaned up and they collapsed into bed, together, happy and reminded of the early days of their friendship when this happened more often then it didn’t.

On Sunday evening, she made her way home, relaxed and ready to start the adventure of formal employment with MI6. It would be different, but she would at least have backup, now. She noticed that no one seemed to be watching her enter her building.   
She hadn’t reset the walls and decided to check the decoy before going home. As she walked up the stairs and into the flat, she had the thought that they had done quite a professional job going through the place. A couple things were so minutely out of place that the majority wouldn’t have noticed. She, however, was trained to such things and smiled, knowing exactly what they had found here. Nothing.

She headed back down to the landing and reset the walls once she was there. She headed into her actual flat cautiously, because she knew that no place was completely secure. Nothing was out of place and a quick check of her entry logs showed that no one had entered while she was gone. 

She sighed, happily. It had been a risk, letting them anywhere near where she lived. She could still relax and not be terribly worried about anyone finding the real her.

She smiled, thinking of the week to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any feed back is welcome and encouraged.


	7. Survival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor Tanner. He has way too much to deal with.

Alec was quiet next to James as they rode the lift up to Tanner’s office. He was surprised by the summons, they hardly ever were called to the Chief of Staff’s offices. They interacted with him often, but not like this.

He thought over the weekend and what they had found in Devina’s flat. Or rather what they hadn’t found. Her flat was absolutely ordinary. It was perfectly normal. No hidden secrets to be found. No safes, no hidden panels, nothing. It was lived in, but it was too ordinary not to be suspect.

She also hadn’t come home for two nights. They had left off surveillance early on Sunday, deciding to come back randomly, rather than watching constantly. They had other places to watch for her. Besides, she would be here at the home office before long.

He refused to admit the irritation that he felt, not knowing what she was doing or who she was with over the weekend. He didn’t want to admit that he’d enjoyed her company and wanted it for himself. She gave him dangerous toys to pay with, and he liked it.

He was brought out of his musings by the ding of the lift indicating that they had reached their destination. He and James stepped off, noting that it was too early for Eve to be at her desk. This was just proving to be more and more interesting.

Maybe it was something about a mission. He could use a distraction to take his mind off a certain someone that he was pretending wasn’t on his mind.

}*{

Tanner looked up from an open file on his desk as James and Alec knocked cursorily before stepping into his office. He pointed at the door before they sat.

“Lock the door, will you?” he asked them.

James and Alec exchanged a look before James turned and locked the door behind them. They looked as relaxed and self-contained as ever when they sat across from him, waiting for him to start.

His voice was as cold as they had ever heard it as he began.

“006, 007, this entire conversation is above your clearance level, and I expect you to respect the trust we are showing you by having it.”

James sat forward and asked, “We?” while Alec just sat, lounging in his chair, tension only betrayed by the tightness in his jaw.

“M, Q and I are the only people privy to this information.”

James sat back, and gestured for Tanner to proceed.

“I understand you have recently become interested in one of our new employees. Devina Fredericks, yes?”

James’ jaw tightened as he nodded. Alec gave no visual response, whatsoever.

“We know that you have accessed her public records. I am about to tell you why there are so lacking in any real information. Ms. Fredericks is Olivia Mansfield’s granddaughter.”

Before he could continue, Alec cursed, violently in Russian before continuing.

“She was telling the truth about the kidnappings, wasn’t she?” Alec demanded.

Tanner raised and eyebrow at him, “That depends on what she told you.”

James looked at Alec and back to Tanner, “When he asked her how she knew he had followed her, she said she’d been kidnapped four times and evaded or countered three more.”

Alec snorted, “That was all she said. I didn’t believe her, of course and didn’t pursue the subject.”

Tanner said nothing as he slid two folders across his desk to the agents.

}*{

The summation of the information in the folders was rather grim.

Her name was Devina Nicole Fredericks. She was born on American soil in 1983. 

She had been kidnapped the first time when she was five. None of her family had survived and only she had been taken. When she was retrieved they found her tied to a chair, beaten almost unconscious and covered in blood that did not belong to her. None of the perpetrators survived the retrieval team. She was brought to England.

She was kidnapped the second time when she was eight. Taken when her driver was killed on the way home from school. There was a second body with the car, thought to be killed by Devina. When she was retrieved, she was found locked in a basement, beaten into unconsciousness and covered in her own blood and blood from several others. None of the perpetrators survived the retrieval team. She remained in England.

A kidnapping was attempted when she was 10. Her driver was late picking her up from after school activities. She spotted the perpetrators and was able to shake pursuit and make her way home. Her driver was found dead two days later. They were unable to determine who attempted the kidnapping.

She was kidnapped the third time when she was 13 from her doctor’s office. She was in for her first full physical and was drugged while her blood was being drawn. When the retrieval team found her, she was at large on the property, covered in blood and four of the perpetrators already dead. With the proper code phrases, the agents removed her from the scene and none of the perpetrators survived the retrieval team.

A kidnapping was attempted when she was 14 from the tube in London. MI6 was called for a clean-up team. Devina had killed two assailants and was retrieved from the NSY by her guardian. All the files in the NSY system were wiped and no evidence remained in the system.

She was kidnapped a fourth time from MIT in Cambridge, MA, USA, when she was 18. She went missing after a meeting with her adviser and returned 2 weeks later, 7kg lighter, hair shorn and with heavy bruising. She was taken to the ER where she was treated for deep bruising several infected cuts, scrapes and dehydration. Agent dispatched was directed with GPS coordinates in the Florida Keys. Agent found a small house with three dead bodies and room set up for a captive. No survivors on-site and perpetrators not found.

A kidnapping was attempted when she was 22, returning by private jet to London from MIT upon completion of her second master’s degree. She arrived on English soil and called MI6 for retrieval from the airport. Agents dispatched reported two dead bodies and one pilot she coerced to get her home. Pilot did not survive interrogation, perpetrators not found.

The details were heavily redacted and the names of agents involved were all missing. 

}*{

James looked up at Tanner and asked, “Did you ever find out who was behind all this?”

“Yes,” was all Tanner responded with. James and Alec both raised there eyebrows at that. Apparently, they still would not be privy to all the information.

“How did no one ever survive to be interrogated?” Alec asked.

Tanner rolled his eyes, “Does anyone ever survive when an agent takes something personally?”

“They took it personally? Why?” James said, incredulous. 

Tanner, surprisingly, grinned at him, “Since you noticed her, could you ignore her if you tried? Can you pretend you aren’t already emotionally compromised?”

James’ face went blank and Alec glared at him, obviously hostile over the question. Tanner chuckled at the sight before him. These two were the most hardened agents MI6 had and they were already caught and still fighting it.

“Now, imagine her as a child, following you around, asking to be taught all that you know and being competent at it. Olivia couldn’t leave her alone, so Devina was here, all the time. She was always incredibly smart and persistent in getting what she wanted. She was jaded and cynical by the time she got here, even as young as she was. The agents adored her for it.

“So, yes, they took it personal,” he concluded.

James and Alec looked at each other in silent communication before once again relaxing back into the chairs they occupied. 

Tanner continued, “The missing years, she was dead. When she couldn’t even get back to London without and attempt being made to take her, the decision was made for her to disappear. We couldn’t keep risking her and Olivia and the agents were having fits. So, that was that. Of course, that was reversed once the danger had passed.”

Alec made the connection first, “When Olivia died, the danger passed?”

James sighed heavily, concluding, “Silva. Silva was behind it all, wasn’t he?”

Tanner smiled slightly, “Not all of it, no. Only those after she was 10. He was actually the agent that began to teach her computers.”

The agent’s faces turned to stone. 

“Yes, she knows,” Tanner said. “She took the news as well as can be expected.

James looked pensive for a moment before asking, “Does she know about what happened at Skyfall?”

“Yes. She has seen the files.”

“How?” Alec wanted to know.

“Her security clearance is higher than mine,” Tanner responded.

“Shit,” breathed James. 

“There is one other thing that you should know,” Tanner said, waiting until he was sure that he had their full attention once more.

James sighed, heavily, “There’s more?”

“Yes, but it is less business and more personal,” Tanner said. 

“She and Q know one another, quite well. They went to university together. She is the one who brought him to MI6’s attention. I would not press him for information about her, as he is incredibly protective. He agreed that you needed this information, but was adamant about leaving anything of a personal nature out of it.”

“Well, you managed that. We don’t know any more about her, personally, than we did. This is just history,” Alec complained.

“You know far more about her than anyone else will,” Tanner reminded them. “And you will keep it to yourselves. We only told you so that you wouldn’t inadvertently harm her by continuing to prod into her background. Silva was not the only enemy of MI6.”

Tanner watched them nod and accepted their non-verbal agreement of the arrangement.

“Thank you for your time, gentlemen. That will be all.” He dismissed them and escort them out of his office.

He rolled his eyes at the sight before him as he stepped out of his office. Devina was there, grinning at him, holding two coffees in her hands.

“Good morning, Tanner, James, Alec,” she greeted them, handing Tanner one of the coffees in her hand. “I would have brought more coffee if I’d have known you would be here.” She had absolutely known that they would be there.

“Are you ready for me?” she asked, smiling at James and Alec in dismissal before turning her attention to Tanner.

Tanner glanced over at Miss Moneypenny’s desk to see if she had arrived. She had not, excellent. 

“Yes, Ms. Fredericks, please come in. Bond, Trevelyan,” he dismissed them as he waved her into his office.

She followed him in, closing the door behind them and sauntered over to slide into the chair that James had just vacate. 

“Tanner, happy to see you again, you are still well?” she asked him, smiling fondly at him.

“Devi,” he smiled at her warmly, “I am well. Better, now that you are back.”

“Flattery!” she teased him. “I am sure you all managed just fine. Though I have to say I am pleased to be back. I have been quite bored without you in my life.”

“And you’ve been pining for Q,” Tanner said in all seriousness.

She paused, deciding that honesty was best, here, “Yes.”

“He was pining for you, as well, you know.”

“Yes,” she said, smiling now. It was good there was another who understood. Things would go more smoothly that way. She and Tristan had a unique relationship.

“We won’t do that to the two of you, again,” Tanner promised her. 

“Be careful, Tanner,” she said, her turn to be serious, “we could hold you to that promise.”

“I hope that you do,” he replied. “We have difficulty without one of you. Without both of you, we would be lost.”

“No one is irreplaceable, Tanner, that has recently been proved. But, for our own sakes, we will hold you to it,” she said, making a note to speak to Tristan about it.

“Anyway, to business,” Devina says, “am I meeting M this morning?”

Tanner smiled at her, knowing that he had pushed the limits of her willingness to discuss personal matters. She had always been private.

“Yes, he is in his office. We wanted you to meet him before Miss Moneypenny arrived. She is the queen of MI6 gossip. You can likely stay off her radar, if you’d like,” Tanner commented as he stood and went to the door that separated his office from M’s adjoining office.

“Oh, but I won’t,” she responded, standing to follow him, “because Q is on her radar.” She winked, to let him know it wouldn’t be an issue. 

He knew better, though. He was amused at the thought of Moneypenny coming up against Devina. Moneypenny would be so far out of her league. He chuckled as he knocked perfunctorily before opening the door.

“M,” Tanner said as he walked through, “Ms. Fredericks is here to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	8. Q-Branch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Devina settles in.

Devina took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she walked through the door behind Tanner. It was time to meet the man who had replaced her grandmother. 

She stood, neutrally, smiling slightly as she took in Garth Mallory, now known as M to the intelligence community. She would reserve judgment on his competence, knowing that her grandmother had been fighting his replacing her. 

He stood from behind his desk in a remarkable show of respect to an agent and stepped toward her. She cocked her head to the side in curiosity as he held his hand out to her.

“Ms. Fredericks, it is wonderful to finally meet you. I have been hoping that circumstances would arise that would see you more formally in the halls of MI6. It is unfortunate that we will never be able to acknowledge the work that you do for us.”

She smiled, and shook his hand in return as an equal. “Thank you, sir, but the type of work I do is best not acknowledged. I am happy that I will be able to help out in q-branch, as well.”

They smiled, understanding one another perfectly. She was a ghost and would remain so. Her work in q-branch was just another cover and kept her where he hoped he could keep an eye on her while she did some rather nasty things for Queen and country. 

She wished him luck with that. She would be sent on missions and she would do what she always did. Work covertly.

It was what she was good at.

}*{

Eve Moneypenny was confused.

It was not a good look on her, Devina decided with amusement. She was being introduced to Eve by M, of all people, as a new senior technician in q-branch. It was not done. 

“Miss Moneypenny,” Devina said, warmly, “lovely to meet you.”

“Ms. Fredericks, it’s a pleasure to meet you, as well,” Eve returned, reaching out to shake her hand. 

Devina met it in her dominant fashion and watched her eyes widen a fraction. M was now asking Eve to show her down to q-branch and report to R for further instructions. 

Both women watched M return to his office and close his door behind him. Eve looked back and her and Devina gestured her from behind her desk.

“Shall we?” she queried.

She watched Eve visibly gather herself as she stepped from behind the desk and led the way to the elevators. 

“A new senior technician,” said Eve, “That’s unusual. I do hope that you get along with our Quartermaster alright, I hear that he is rather ruthless on the branch employees.”

“That is the way it should be. Small mistakes in execution can lead to major mishaps, later,” Devina responded. “Technicians can be remarkably lazy if someone isn’t riding them.” 

She stepped forward to press the elevator button, smiling at Eve while she spoke, keeping her face light and open.   
Eve studied her, closely, before she smiled in return. 

“Well,” she said as she stepped onto the elevator, “if that’s how you feel, you should get along fine. Our Quartermaster is brilliant deserves people working hard for him.”

“That is what I have heard, so far,” Devina kept the conversation going, “I am looking forward to working on implementing the innovations I have been hearing about.”

“Are you a programmer, then?” Eve asks her.

“Among other things,” Devina replies, looking at Eve out of the corner of her eye, showing a smile quirking her lips.

They chat lightly the rest of the way to q-branch, lightly flirting, with Devina deftly evading any inquiries into her personal life. Devina’s delight in confounding the woman was maybe a bit unseemly, but she was enjoying it, immensely. Eve was like so many attractive women who though themselves better for knowing how to use it. She’d not met anyone like Devina, before and wasn’t sure what to make of it.

As they entered q-branch, Devina holding the door for Eve, she felt a roll of nostalgia for the series of workstations and hallways. She had missed it here, quite a lot. Boothroyd had been something of a mentor to her and she had missed him. She was looking forward to working with Tristan, again, though. 

Eve led her to a smart looking woman at the work station closest to the currently empty, main station where Q most often worked. It looked like the workstations were spread back from that area in the order that they were needed to facilitate getting information to the quartermaster as he requested it.

“R,” Eve said as Devina brought her focus back to whom she was about to meet, “this is Devina Fredericks, q-branch’s new senior technician. M asked me to bring her down to you for further instructions.”

R tuned to her with a brilliant smile on her face, “Ms. Fredericks, I am so happy to meet you, Q has done nothing but talk about you for the last week.”

“Devina, please,” Devina said, shaking R’s hand. “I am glad to meet his second. I am looking forward to working with you.”

“Oh, let me call him. We made him go to his office, he wouldn’t stop pacing, waiting for you to get here.” R picked up a phone and made a quick connection. “She’s here-” is all she got out before she pulled the phone away from her ear and hung it up with a shrug.

Devina grinned as she heard a door crash open and saw a small frown on Eve’s face as she processed her interaction with R and the sight of the Quartermaster rushing out of his office in their direction.

“Devi,” he smiled warmly at her, checking himself before he could hug her. 

She grinned back at him, “Q,” she flicked her eyes toward Eve.

Q took in his audience and said, “Thank you, Eve, for showing Ms. Fredericks the way down. R, she can do paperwork later, I have things I need her to see, right now,” he said as he grabbed her wrist and started to tug her toward a door that wasn’t his office.

She laughed, following after him, calling over her shoulder, “Miss Moneypenny, thank you for the escort, I hope to see you again soon,” she nodded at her and turned to R, “R, I will see you soon, I am sure,” she said turning back to Q and following where he was leading.

Eve smiled absently, looking after Q as if she’d not seen him before, “My pleasure Ms Fredericks. I am sure I will see you before long.” And stared after them as they marched through the door and toward the labs where prototypes were assembled.

}*{

Two weeks later, Devina had settled nicely into q-branch. She was helping Tristan program, training to run missions, working on improving the designs of several items the agents took on mission, had complete her psyche evaluation (much easier since they didn’t know she was an agent), her physical evaluations and qualified at the shooting range. 

The rest of the department was a little in awe of her and had taken to calling her “D” because she worked so well and closely with Q. R took no offense, given that she was still Q’s second in command and Devina, while confident and commanding, didn’t try to run anything other than her own projects, and actually got on quite well with everyone in the branch. It was unheard of. She had high expectations of the people that she worked with, but like Q, she worked harder than anyone else did, often staying late to work on projects and sending others home.

In reality, q-branch was running more smoothly than it ever had. She hated paperwork as much as Q did and her experience setting up the management of her cafe stood her in good stead as she taught him how to delegate the tasks he either didn’t like or didn’t have time for. They were a team, and it was obvious to everyone that they had worked together before.

Devina and Q drove everyone mad when they got an idea and started to bounce ideas off of each other. They spoke in a short hand of code and American obscenities that no one else could understand or follow. It was terrifying how they could become so absorbed, working on the fire walls or hacking into a foreign system together, lines of code flying by on the main workstation’s large monitor, speaking to one another. And yet, they couldn’t be startled or sneaked up on. Every cup of tea or coffee was noticed and gratitude was expressed. If one of them was needed, the other would keep working on whatever it was, seamlessly allowing any issue to be handled by the duo.

It was just as bad if you caught them in the labs, building things. They often argued over schematics, spewing technical jargon and even more creative obscenities at one another. They started building specialized fit-bits and smart phones rather than watches and thumb drives. With the advent of larger phones, there was more space to pack things there than into a watch. Fit-bits already came equipped to monitor vitals, so they could just add to the program, rather than build brand new equipment. Accounting was grateful for the projected decrease in component spending.

Devina had gotten approval to overhaul one of the labs to bring in her welding equipment and make a hot work shop. She was ecstatic. She was an excellent fabricator and she could now work on larger projects, like the cars. She also could specialize the guns much easier and practice her love of making sharp, pointy things. 

So far, this was her favorite cover. 

}*{

It wasn’t long after her second week that she was sent out on a mission. 

Something in her was satisfied at proving her worth in this way, again. Her childhood had shaped her into someone that needed the expression of violence, but her grandmother had made sure she knew how to channel it into something useful for others, rather than fall into recklessness.

It hadn’t been a particularly difficult mission, but she hadn’t been out in quite sometime, so she took more care in setting it up than maybe she would have, otherwise. Either way, she accomplished the assassination without problems, making it look irrefutable that the man’s rival had killed him to settle an unknown score. 

She was only gone for a couple days before returning to London. She went home that night and noticed that her spotters were back. She smirked, wondering what they had made of her absence. She was too tired to worry about it terribly, and just went inside and cleaned up herself and her weapons before bed.

Unlike the rest of the agents, she kept her equipment stored where she could get to it. There was no record of her work, so there could be no record of being issued weapons and tech. She was fortunate that she could make many of the things she used by herself. 

The only thing not hers that she carried with her was a phone that Tristan had given her. It was not MI6, but his own. It was the first time she had gone out knowing that someone was, even marginally, keeping track of her. And it wasn’t for MI6, it was for himself. She allowed it, because she knew it would kill him if something happened to her and he didn’t know. It was the same in reverse. She would drive herself crazy worrying about him.

She had spoken to him about Tanner’s promise to her and how she wanted to make him keep it, if it ever came to it. They belonged together, not apart. He agree with her, and so it was decided. If things cocked up badly enough, they would go, together. Between the two of them, they would never be found.

When she had her weapons and herself clean, she fell into bed, knowing she’d have to get up and store her weapons in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	9. Meet the Boffin Twins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shenanigans

James strolled into q-branch much like he always did, as if he owned it. He was about halfway to the main workstation when his stride faltered a bit, taking in the sight there. 

Q and Devina were up there, both with laptops, looking like they were completely absorbed in whatever task they were trying to accomplish. There were incomprehensible (to him) lines of code flying across the screen. They were obviously talking to one another, but he was too far away to hear what they were saying. It was just about the most animated he’d seen either of them.

If he and Alec were the Chaos Twins, Q and Devina must be the Boffin Twins. Q was in his usual rumpled, checked pants over Converse Chuck Taylors and a cardigan. Devina was in tailored trousers over work boots and a fitted waistcoat, baring her arms. Both of them had messy hair and ran their hands through it, frequently, while scanning the lines of text scrolling by with darting eyes. 

They were riveting. 

He was intercepted by R before he could get any closer.

“007, how can q-branch help you, today?” she asked him, smirking as she glanced toward where he was staring.

He shifted his attention and smiled charmingly, “R, you look lovely, today. I need to turn in my equipment. Is he available?”

“Thank you, 007, but no, you can come with me and I’ll log it in for you. They are quite busy at the moment, working on something rather delicate.”

She turned and led him to her workstation and opened the program they used to log equipment and note damages or loss. They were close enough to the main work station to hear Q and Devina now and he was fascinated.   
He’d been sent on assignment the same day that he had seen her outside of Tanner’s office, so he had missed her settling in to the branch. It was the first time he had seen her since and he couldn’t keep from staring at the pair as they spoke to each other in English words that sounded like complete gibberish to him.

“R?” he asked.

“Yes, 007?”

“What are they talking about?” He asked her.

“Right, you haven’t seen them work together. They are just as bad in the labs. They seem to have developed a short hand with one another at uni and not one of us can follow their conversations once they get going,” she explained with a fond look in their direction.

Suddenly they both whooped in triumph and began laughing loudly and they actually high-fived each other. His eyebrows rose, incredulous. Without missing a beat they went back to their laptops, the code scrolling much more slowly than it had been before blanking off the main screen altogether. 

He saw Devina look at Q and asked him, “Coffee?”

“God, yes,” was the response and she chuckled at him as they made there way down to the main floor and started across the bullpen. 

“R,” Q called out, “we’ll be back in a tick, do you want anything? Oh, welcome back, 007, I hope you brought back something intact this time,” he said as he paused at R’s station as she shook her head at his question.

“Hello, Q, yes, I did. R’s logging it, now. Hello Miss Fredericks.”

“Hello, 007, welcome back,” Devina nodded at him, smiling.

Q nudged her with his shoulder and they continued on their way, heads bent together and both speaking, gesturing animatedly. 

“R?” he asked again, continuing once she’d looked up at him, “since when is Q…” he trailed off, not quite knowing how to phrase his question without offending her.

“Not uptight?” she offered, showing a bit of why she had her position. “Since D got here.”

“D?”

“The branch has taken to calling her ‘D.’ She didn’t ask it, they just started doing it and it has stuck.”

“I see,” James replied, even though he wasn’t sure that he saw at all.

}*{

Alec had come to q-branch to return his equipment after his latest mission. He pulled his phone out and sent a quick message to James.

`Are you in the office? You need to come see this in q-branch-A`

`Two minutes.-J`

Alec looked back up at the main workstation. What seemed like all the q-branch employees were crowded around, watching the main viewing screen, cheering. No bets were being placed, but they were chattering back and forth, excitedly. R was watching over them from her work station close by.

On the main screen, video feed from one of the training rooms was on display. Q and Devina were featured in the feed, moving around each other gracefully, both wearing close fitting black clothing, arms bare and wielding swords. Swords and daggers. 

He’d never seen anything like it outside of old movies. He had to admit they looked much better, sleek and modern dress, weapons to match. If this was fencing, he’d had a wrong idea of it all along.

He strode up to R and she greeted him absently. He smiled and asked her, “Does this happen often?”

“About once a week,” she said, nodding at James as he materialized next to Alec, staring at the screen.

“That often?” James asked.

“Yes,” R responded. “They say it’s for stress relief, but really I think they just like to do it. They asked the rest of us, but D and Q are terrifying enough without them coming at us with sharp pointy things.”

“Sharp?” James asks, just a Q manages to open up a gash on Devina’s sword arm. 

The room goes quiet after someone lets out a squeak of alarm. Devina, on the screen just barks out a laugh and flows through some complicated maneuver that ends up with her sword on the floor, Q on his knees in front of her with her dagger at his throat.

Both laughing, they scramble to their feet, Devina retrieving her sword and praising Q. Apparently, he had improved. They hear Q demand that she go to medical and she nods agreement, and responds in the tone of “Yes, dear” that all men have uttered more than they ever care to remember.

R quickly breaks up the pack of technicians, not wanting them all to get caught watching rather than doing whatever work they’d been left to do. James motions Alec off to the side so they can chat.

“Well,” Alec started, “that was interesting. I wouldn’t have thought Q could fight at all. He doesn’t seem the type.”

James rolls his eyes at Alec, “You should see them working together, it’s even more intense.”

“They work closely together?” Alec asked. “I thought no one was in Q’s league.”

R wandered over to them again, having heard Alec’s last comment. “D is definitely in Q’s league. The work they do together is much more devastating then the work they do individually. Though on their own, they are still more than dangerous.”

“R, could we get a copy of that display?” James asked, going for charm.

R just smiled at him. “No, 007. You want to see, volunteer to spar with them. Alec, come with me so I can log your equipment.”

}*{

Up in medical, Devina was denying the local anesthesia the doctor wanted to give her before stitching her up. The slice wasn’t that bad, but it would heal faster if it was held together by something more sturdy than bandages.  
The cut was about three inches long on the outside of her right arm, above the elbow. Thankfully, the stitches wouldn’t interfere with movement. She controlled her breathing and sat still through the cleaning and stitching of her arm. When they were done, she asked them for a tegaderm bandage to go over it, and they complied. It would heal a lot faster than with conventional bandages.

She swiped the painkillers she had no intention of taking before heading down to the locker rooms to shower and dress before heading back to q-branch. Tanner was waiting for her in the lobby by the elevators. He raised an eyebrow at her as they stepped into the lift.

“Are you too injured to go out?” he asked her.

“No,” she responded, steadily, “movement and strength are not compromised.”

“Good,” he returned, “there will be a brief waiting for you on your secure laptop.”

She nodded at him as he got off the next floor. She remained in the lift, continuing to the gym so that she could get through to the locker rooms and get cleaned up.

}*{

Tristan just managed to keep from rolling his eyes as he returned to his branch after his own turn in the showers, back in his usual clothing. 006 and 007 were bracketing his work station, waiting for him. He wondered what they wanted, this time. 

“Gentlemen, why are you lounging on my workbench?” he asked as he approached his and Devina’s computers. 

“We just wanted to say hello, Q,” from James.

“And compliment you on your ability with a rapier,” continued Alec.

“Oh, did you, now?” his eyes narrowed as they swept around the room. He knew he couldn’t keep them from watching, but they should know better than to broadcast such things were anyone could see it. He caught R’s gaze and she blanched. Satisfied, he turned his attention back to the agents.

“And now that you have done so, you may take your leave,” he groused at them, arms folded.

“Don’t be like that, Q,” James said, “we must compliment your counterpart, as well. Where has she gotten off to?”

Alec was just smiling, a large grin that generally heralded an explosion.

“She went up to medical. Needed to get some stitches,” Tristan said, rolling his eyes. He didn’t feel one bit guilty. They’d done much worse to each other, many times. 

Alec twitched his chin toward the other end of the branch, and commented, “There she is, now. Looks like a good hit you got in there, Q. Didn’t take you for a fighter.”

“I’m not much of one. Fencing was the only thing I took interest in, and she is much better than I am,” he smiled fondly in her direction before recalling who he was talking to. He straightened his posture as Devina approached.  
“Are you able to work?” he asked.

She smiled tiredly at him, “You know better than that, Q, I am always able to work.” Her posture was casual, but she looked exhausted. They could see the stitches on her arm, covered by some kind of clear film. She held her arm out and flexed it back and forth. “See, full range of motion, the stitches don’t even pull.”

While she was moving her arm back and forth, she flicked a signal at him, indicating that she had to go. Damn it. He’d known they had a pressing need for her, but he always hated when they sent her out.

He hummed, considering, “Why don’t you take the rest of the day off, regardless. A couple days. You have been doing too much, anyway.”

She looked at him for a moment, and blinked at him, “Are you sure? We were in the middle of-”

He cut her off, “Yes, Devi, we can leave it for a couple days. I’d rather you come back rested and with some new ideas, anyway. In return, I’ll leave on time for three nights.”

She turned shrewd, “And won’t come in before 8am.”

Tristan sighed at her, “Alright. I suppose I can’t be that much of a hypocrite, can I?”

She snorted, showing how well she knew him, “I’ll have R keep you to it. I’ll see you in a few days.” She chuckled and made her way out, stopping by R’s desk on the way.

Tristan turned again to the agents that had been watching them negotiate the conditions of her leave with amusement.

“Yes,” he said, dryly, “you were very complimentary. Out.”

}*{

`006 & 007 are following you and R won’t stop staring at me.-T`

`It was too good an opportunity to pass up.-D`

`Because you are going to be resting, right?-T`

`I worry about you when I am not there.-D`

`There are so many things wrong with that statement. Be careful.-T`

`I’ll come back to you.-D`

Devina smiled as she stepped down into her basement and flicked on a light. She had an arsenal down here. If she ever had a house fire, there would be nothing left to investigate, she had so many volatile compounds and so much ammunition. 

She took mostly knives with her, this time, one hand gun and several magazines. She bundled everything up and put it in her small duffel before heading back upstairs. When the time came, it would all fit on her person without hampering movement, but that time was not yet. 

She was grateful that she now had appropriate paperwork should she be stopped with the amount of weapons she carried, but she was as careful as she always was. She returned upstairs, heading to her bedroom with the wardrobe of appropriate attire. 

Once she was packed, she left, using public transportation to get to the Eurostar. She appreciated that she still could get around with cash and little ID. 

If she lost the two 00s on her trail on the way, no one had to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcomed and encouraged.


	10. Demons?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec and Devi get a bit closer

Alec was following Devina. She hadn’t been around for a few days and she had just come out of her home looking haunted at 3am. She was in dark clothing, as usual, and was blending into the shadows and alleyways.

Following her tonight was like following a ghost through London. The streets were mostly empty and she was hard to spot most of the time. He thought she was unaware oh him until he turned down an alley that he’d seen her go into and she was gone. It happened to be a dead end. When he turned around, she was right in front of him, centimeters from his face. 

Instinctively, he lashed out and she melted and flowed backward and into the shadows in the alley. She appeared again, in the light back on the street. She stood at relaxed attention, just looking at him.

She no longer looked haunted, she looked like a predator. She smiled at him, a baring of teeth, really, chin canted down just enough to maximize her forward sight. Her body was ready to move, either away or after him, depending on what he did. The true neutral that he’d only ever seen in the wild. It was unnerving.

He approached her, slowly. Her smile relaxed marginally and she shifted her weight to one side, neck and chin coming to a more natural angle. 

“Alec,” she said, softly, barely breaking the silence. “What do you want?”

She turned from him, indicating with posture and body language that he should fall into step with her.

“I want to know what you are hiding,” he stated it bluntly, on a whim.

“And are you willing to share yourself in turn?” she asked him, serious.

It made him pause. Was he? He wanted to know all her secrets, because she definitely had them, but was he willing to expose himself to do so?

“I don’t know,” he said carefully.

She nodded at him, “Spies are like that, aren’t they. They want to ferret out knowledge but think there should be no cost to them.”

“Do I have secrets from you?” he asked. “I know your clearance level.”

She stopped and waited for him to turn to her. “I won’t lie and say that I haven’t read your files, but, I would like to think I know better than to mistake the agent for the person,” she said before she started moving again. “And I have read them because I have professional reason to do so. I am part of the team that is meant to help you. I need to know how you work in order to best do that.”

He looked away from her, knowing that he and James had done nothing but invade her privacy. Who cared that it was what they were trained to do? She was a fellow employee, fully vetted and with a higher clearance level then both of them. She had grown up an insider of MI6. What exactly were they hoping to find out about her?

“Ask me,” she said, abruptly, as she started walking, again.

“What?” he asked, startled.

“Ask me. What do you want to know that most right now?” she looked at him out of the corner of her eye, the corner of her lip quirking up.

She pointed her chin in the direction of Regent’s park and they went in that direction, wandering through the grounds.

Finally, he asked, “What are you doing up and out? Right now.” 

They had stopped and were resting against the back of a bench, rather than sitting. She looked up and away from him as she formulate her answer. 

“I get restless when the nightmares come,” she said, quietly.

He looked at her, remembering the information they had been given about her. “Do you dream about what has been done to you or what you’ve done to others?”

It was a good question. Incredibly personal. She studied his face for a minute before she answered. She was in the mood for truth.

“Both. I dream more about the latter, these days.” She looked up at the sky and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from one of her pockets. She offered him the pack and he took one before she took her own. The pack disappeared and there was a lighter in her hand, held to him, to light his cigarette. She let the flame out before she flicked it again to light her own.

They both stayed against the bench, smoking companionably, no longer speaking as they both contemplated their nightmares. There was nothing in late night London to bother them, so they were as relaxed as they ever were.

Alec looked at her and said, “You are different, you know? You confound us both.”

“How so?” she asked archly.

“I am not sure. You don’t behave like any beautiful woman that I have ever met. Like any woman that I have ever met. You don’t posture and use your physical form to distract or gain favors. You work hard and you do things yourself, but aren’t trying to prove that you ‘can do anything a man can do’ (he actually made air quotes, which made her chuckle). You just are you.” He looked at her, thoughtfully before continuing.

“Actually, you are more like many men that I have met. You have an easy confidence about you that says you know who and what you are and you don’t feel the need to prove it to anyone.”

He was frowning lightly, now. Sometimes speaking out loud clarified a train of thought. 

“Is that what you are trying to find out about me?” she asked, “My gender?”

He glanced at her, and she was grinning at him. He knew why, it seemed silly, put bluntly like that. But it was only part of it, so he told her.

“Part and parcel of the whole, isn’t it?” he asked, “But not all of it. You were interesting from the day that I met you. You fight like a fiend, naturally, and you aren’t intimidated by anything. You know when we are following you around, which is a bit unheard of, and you have been able to evade us anytime you want. You have a decoy flat that would have completely fooled us if you hadn’t told us you were going to work for Universal Exports. By the way, we still haven’t figured out how to get into your actual flat. And, you can keep up with Q. Altogether, extraordinary,” he concluded.

He was looking at her as he finished his dissertation on her attributes. She was blushing. That was unexpected.

“So, you find me fascinating, but instead of talking to me, you stalk me? I have to admit, it’s a rather unique way to show interest. Not, terribly effective, though. You, at least, have spent some time in my company, unlike James” She was chuckling, again. “I am glad that you enjoy deadly, pretty things,” she commented, reminding him of his afternoon in her shop, with a twinkle in her eye that said she heard the innuendo in her words.

“So what you are saying is that if I want to get to know you I should actually interact with you, rather than watch your house? The crazy notions you have, Devina, what am I to think of you?” he teased lightly.

“You will just have to figure it out as we go along, won’t you?” she said, smiling. “But for now, I am heading home. I do have to work in the morning and get R’s report on Q’s behavior while I was gone.” She winked at him as she levered up from the back of the bench and began to walk away. “Good night, Alec,” she called over her shoulder.  
Alec watched her go, doubting that she was actually going home as he saw her break into a jog and fade out of sight. He wouldn’t follow her, though.

She was right. It was not a way to get to know her.

}*{

The following afternoon, Tristan was working at the main station by himself while Devina was in her now finished hot lab, rearranging everything because the equipment had come in while she was gone. He couldn’t stand her irritated enthusiasm anymore and so had escaped back to the main branch.

She had not told him what her mission had been, but he knew it had been a bad one just by looking at her face when he’d asked her how it went. That and the fact that she’d had a late night run in with Alec. Nightmares were something that plagued her off and on, he remembered. He wanted to tell her to come to him when she returned, but he knew that she wouldn’t. It took her less than 24 hours to shake off a mission, but those hours were necessary. 

While he worked, he pondered that Alec had figured out her gender, even if he didn’t realize that he had. It was nice to know that he seemed to appreciate the difference, rather than want to deny it. She’d been through it before and it was always painful, for both of them. 

He wondered what Alec would think of her sexuality. He would have to remember to ask Devina how she felt about Alec and James, physically. She’d need to be aware of her own feelings on the matter before they possibly presented her with theirs. But, he was probably getting ahead of himself, they hadn’t even spent time together.

Speak of the devil, he thought, as Alec planted himself in his usual spot against his work station.

“No, 006,” he said without looking up at the man next to him, “you may not have a flame thrower.”

“I wasn’t, that’s not-” Alec stopped with a sigh.

Q looked up, curious. He’d never heard Alec hesitant. He raised and eyebrow at Alec in demand.

“What, then?”

“I wanted to speak to Devina if she is available,” Alec very steadily held Q’s eyes as he spoke.

Q’s eyes immediately narrowed as he demanded, “In regards to?”

Alec fidgeted. Actually fidgeted. Q almost went into shock, but this was about Devi and he wouldn’t back down. He kept his narrowed gaze on Alec’s face, waiting for an answer.

“I want to ask her to dinner,” was the rushed answer.

Q blinked, “You do?”

“Yes.”

“That’s-well. Alright. She’s in her hot lab.”

“Hot lab?” Alec asked, confused.

“We made her a welding lab. We called it a hot lab because on job sites you have to get a hot work permit to weld on site,” Q told him.

Alec grinned, “You got her a welding lab? Excellent, she makes amazing things! Have you seen them?”

Q smiled back at him, “Yes, 006, I have. Why do you think I let her convince me to let her have the lab? I need someone in house for that kind of fabrication, anyway.”

“So,” Alec began, “can I go talk to her?”

“Yes, I imagine she will put you to work. She is rearranging everything,” Q said. “It’s down in R&D, close to the garage. I am sure you can find your way.” Q waved him off.

“Thank you, Q,” Alec said with a large, open smile. With that, he turned and made his way to over and through the door that led to R&D.

Q shut down his work station and walked quickly to his office to watch the feed in private.

}*{

“Mother-fucking-cock-sucking-son-of-a-whore-bitch-ass-fucking-piece-of-shit-gaaaaha!” The string of expletives could be heard over the sounds of grunge-punk music blaring out of the room he found her in.

Alec started to laugh in the doorway as he saw her kick a table while she was trying to do something, he didn’t know what, to one of the many machines in the lab that he’d found her in. 

She was in another pair of black fatigue pants that he was pretty sure were custom made, they fit her so well and a black, sleeveless shirt. Her usual work boots were on her feet and she had a bright blue bandanna over her hair and safety glasses on.

Her head whipped around at the sound of his laughter and she scowled at him before straightening up and walking toward him. 

“Are you here to help?” she demanded.

“I can help, if you’d like, but no, that is not why I am here.”

“Oh, excellent,” she said before very much telegraphing that she was going to grab his wrist. He allowed it and she tugged him over to the machine she’d been cursing at. He had no idea what it was. She left him there and quickly grabbed some safety glasses and handed them to him. He put them on and looked at her for instructions.

It took them about an hour to get the lab set up how she wanted it. She stood with a satisfied look on her face as she looked over her new work space. 

“Thank you, Alec, I appreciate the help,” she said as she turned to him with a grin. “Now, what brought you down here?”

He smiled back, nodding acknowledgment to her thanks and decided to just be direct with her.

“Will you have dinner with me?” he asked.

She looked at him and smiled, brilliantly, “Yes, I will. Let’s get cleaned up and we can go. Casual?”

“It’s a plan. And yes, casual, please.”

She hummed at him, “I’ll meet you outside q-branch in a half-hour.”

}*{

In his office, Tristan smiled broadly. He wondered if she realized that she’d touched Alec.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged


	11. Is it a date?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What about James?  
> Yes, I made that bar up.  
> I know nothing about London. Or England.

Devina was smiling as she walked out of q-branch to see Alec waiting for her. He was dressed in blue jeans over boots and a dark gray button down shirt open over a black t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His hair was damp from his own trip to the locker room.

She was wearing a pair of clean, tailored cargo pants over her low-top red Converse shoes and two layers of gray and black vests under a blue-gray hooded zip-up jacket. He noticed that she had added a ring to her right thumb. She had taken the time to dry her hair and made the mess look somewhat styled.

They were both armed, guns at the small of their backs and only they knew how many knives they each had on their persons. They were ready to face the world of London for the evening.

They fell into step with one another, heading toward the elevators and chatting easily as they waited for the lift. When it arrived they had to wait for someone to exit. They waited, patient as James stepped out and flicked his observant gaze over them. 

“007,” Devina greeted him as she made to go around him to the lift. 

“James,” Alec said, “we are headed to dinner. You should join us for drinks, after.” He made his own way to the lift. 

James looked between the two of them as he nodded in agreement, taking in the neutral smile on Devina’s face and the smug look on Alec’s. 

“Yes,” he said, “I’ll join you later. Text me where and when.”

Alec nodded to him as the lift closed. He belatedly turned to Devina and asked her, “You don’t mind, do you?”

“No,” she responded with a smile. 

Alec let out a breath, relieved. He and James were a package deal, of sorts, but he had a feeling that she knew that. You couldn’t be close to one of them without dealing with the other. He was still hopeful that she’d be close to both of them.

As they made their way out of the lift at the lobby they passed Eve on her way in. They all greeted one another without stopping to chat. Alec noticed Eve staring after Devina with a calculating look as he pushed the door open and held it for Devina to walk out past him. 

“Why is Moneypenny looking at you as if you are a mark?” he asked as she stepped out the door. She canted a smile at him as they fell back into step.

“Two obvious reasons, Alec, why don’t you tell me?” she teased him, smiling.

“Hrm,” he considered it a moment before asking, “Have you interact with her?”

“Not much, but the interaction would have been notable to her. M introduced me to her and had her escort me to q-branch on my first day.”

“M?” he asked, putting it together. “Ah, she arrived and you were already in M’s office, weren’t you? She is his watch dog. Yes, that would have been notable to her.”

“And you know how she is with women, yes?” Devina asked him.

“You mean how she uses her looks, poise, position and training to subtly intimidate?” he asked in return, subtly steering Devina down the street in the direction of the restaurant he’d picked for their dinner. “I imagine that she got nowhere, quickly, using that tactic with you.”

“Of course not,” she made an inelegant sound. “There isn’t an insecure bone in my body. And there is no way her training could surpass mine.”

“What do you mean by that?” Alec asked, fishing while she was being forthcoming.

Devina gave him a look that let him know she was aware of what he was doing and amused by it. 

“Alec, you know I spent the time I wasn’t in school at MI6 as a child. My training began when I was five, by the whole of a very over-protective 00 division. Aside from that, I was often under grandmother’s desk when she had meetings or spoke with any of the agents. There were reasons that I was targeted; I was the weakness of the whole organization, not just hers, and I knew it. I learned my lessons well to minimize the risks to myself and to them.”

“Did they make being a teenager unbearable?” he asked her, trying to lighten the conversation a bit.

“Gods, yes,” she chuckled. “It was a game of constant evasion if I wanted to have any fun. You can imagine that sneaking off was nearly impossible. But, I certainly know how to shake a tail, now,” she was grinning, now and he felt marginally better.

He chuckled with her and murmured agreement with her assessment. She certainly could evade and shake a tail.

They stopped at a small, Italian restaurant and he once again pulled the door open for her, following her in. She looked around and smiled at him in approval. It was a small, dimly lit, family style place. Comfortable and they would have clear sight lines from anywhere in the dining room.

They kept conversation light as they were seated, discussing the menu until their server came and took their orders. They talked about other types of cuisine that they enjoyed until the arrival of their food. The conversation turned personal, again as they began to eat.

“Tell me about you and Q,” he requested after they verbalized their appreciation of the quality of the food.  
Her features softened in a way that he’d not yet seen. 

“Q is my best friend,” she stated. “He and I met at MIT. I’d been there for two years when he arrived. I was 17 and he was 15. We were inseparable from almost the moment that we met. We spent five years there, together, without breaks. I am sure you have heard that we’ve stayed close.”

“And the years after school?” He asked.

“We found ways to keep in touch,” was all that she would say about it.

She grinned at him and asked, “And you and James?”

He chuckled, turn about being fair play, he answered her, “We met in the Navy, just before we were both accepted into SBS. Like you and Q, inseparable from the first. We got into plenty of trouble together in the intervening years, I am sure you know.”

She laughed at him and asked him to tell her about some of it. After that, they exchanged stories about the antics they had gotten up to with their friends. 

Dinner passed in that way, more companionable than either of them had expected. They talked easily, and Devina was just finishing an amusing story about a skirmish with some aggressive gay men touristing at a fetish themed night club that she and Q had frequent in college when the check arrived at their table. Alec was still chuckling over the story and broke into an outright laugh as their waitress automatically gave the check to Alec and Devina rolled her eyes, exasperated.

He grinned at her and said, “I issued the invitation, I’ll pay. You can get it when you ask me.” He winked at her and she gave in without further protest.

He sent a quick text to James before he got his credit card back.

`Headed to drinks, Geoffrey’s place.-A`

He got his card back and they stood to make there way out and he looked at her, mischievously before going back to their conversation.

“So, then, tell me more about this fetish club,” he said and she laughed and bumped his shoulder with hers as they walked toward the bar where they were going to have drinks with James.

}*{

It was early enough in the evening that the bar was fairly empty and James had a clear view of Alec and Devina when they came in. She was holding the door and Alec was laughing at something she was saying as she gestured, trying to shape something in the air.

They both scanned the bar, spotting him immediately where he sat at a high top with three seats, and a scotch in front of him. Alec knew the bar well, and Devina scanned the room, placing the exits and blind spots before she quickly glanced at Alec and quick stepped forward to get the more optimally placed chair that was left of the two. She grinned at the sour face he made at her as she started to signal to Alec and James the room division before she dropped her hands, shaking her head ruefully.

Alec smiled at her, letting her know it was fine while James just blinked at the information it said about her. It looked like Alec was getting to know her while she just became more of a mystery to James.

“Drink, Devina?” Alec asked her, not yet sitting down.

“Oh, yes, Grey Goose and tonic, please. With a lime,” she requested with a smile.

Alec winked at James before heading to the bar to get himself and Devina drinks. 

Devina looked at James and asked, “And what have you been up to this evening, James? Did you finally persuade Q to make you an exploding pen?”

James smiled slightly, “No such luck, I’m afraid. He kicked me out of q-branch and I got myself some dinner before coming here to meet you and Alec. Not an eventful evening.”

“He really enjoys kicking your division out of the branch, doesn’t he?” she said, chuckling.

“Does he?” James asked, “I thought it was just the two of us.”

“Oh no,” she said, “he actually tolerates the two of you far more than he does any of the rest.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Alec said, setting the drinks he’d retrieved from the bar and sliding into his seat. “Especially after I proved to be so helpful, today.”

“Yeah, but you were helping me, not q-branch,” she chuckled at him. 

“What were you two doing?” James asked.

“Well, my plan was to ask her to dinner, which I did get around to,” Alec explained, “after I was assaulted with some rather creative cursing and being roped into moving equipment and pressing levers for some reason.”

“Yes, well, I lived in Boston for six years and I picked up my colorful working vocabulary from the tradesmen of that fair city,” she laughed, blushing lightly. “I have to say, the blue collar workers of the Greater Boston Area have an amazing way with the word ‘fuck.’ It’s almost magical.”

Alec and James laughed as Devina went on to tell James, “Q gave me permission to put together a welding shop, and I was setting it up when Alec found me, today. So I persuade him to help.”

“Slave driver,” Alec said, sotto voice to James. 

The evening went well with banter flying back and forth between the three of them. Alec got Devina to retell some of her stories about Boston and Devina persuade James to tell her his side of the stories that Alec had been telling her. 

Some time later, Devina was taking her turn getting their round of drinks with both men looking after her, fondly. She’d left her jacket on the back of her chair and they could see the interest the other patrons had as she made her way across the room. The bar had gotten steadily busier as the night went on, so she had to wait for a bit for the barman’s attention. Alec, nudged James with his elbow as they leaned on the table.

“Better?” Alec asked him.

“Yes,” Jame said, looking back at Devina, again. He sat up as he saw her posture become less relaxed at the bar. He pointed his chin at her so that Alec would turn his attention to the bar.

There was a man to Devina’s left, obviously talking to her. She turned her head to him to respond and turned back to the bar, still waiting to order their drinks. The man was turned toward her now, speaking and he place a hand on her arm, above the elbow. She barely shifted her weight as she bent her own arm up and placed her hand in the crease of his elbow. It had barely settled when the man dropped her arm and took a step back. She didn’t deign to say anything to him as she turned back to the barman ready to take her order.

The man stepped back up to her and grabbed her arm to pull her around. Alec and James could both see his mistake. He grabbed her with the arm she hadn’t hurt and as she allowed him to pull her around, the motion crossed him arm in front of his body and she again reversed the hold and she brought her other hand into play and used his twisted position to pull him off balance with one hand while she shoved his shoulder with the other, causing him to stumble over her conveniently placed foot and hit the ground. She looked up and flicked her eyes around before she signaled the door man to come and take care of it. 

She waited, calm and ready as the door man came to haul the man up. They could she was quietly speaking to him and then she smiled, shaking her head before she turned back to the bar where their drinks were waiting. The barman waved off her attempt to pay and she shrugged, picking up the drinks and once again flicking her eyes to where the door man was hauling the other man out the door.

She made her way back to the table and set the drinks down and smiled at them, sliding into her chair.

“So,” she asked, “where were we?”

“You know,” James remarked conversationally, “I’d like to spar with you.”

“That can be arranged,” she said, and they saw her Cheshire Cat smile for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [The Love Song of James Bond  
> Fightyourdragon]
> 
> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	12. Was it good for you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not so great at fights, but it's still fun.

“James wants to spar with me,” Devina said, out of the blue.

Tristan looked up at her from his laptop. They were both sitting on her couch, leaning against opposite arms with their feet tangled together working on laptops after her evening out with Alec and James. 

He had been there when she got home. It was one thing for Alec and James to know they were close, but another for them to be able to follow Tristan back to his own home. She wouldn’t allow it, not yet, at any rate. She’d already asked him if he thought he would like to join them if they went out for drinks again.

He agreed with her that he should. She had the understanding that James and Alec were a package deal, but James and Alec needed to know that she and Tristan were, as well. Nothing would come between them, and they needed to know that. 

Tristan was still waiting for one or both of them to come and ask him about their relationship. But, he was starting to think that they might just ask her, directly. They seemed to be learning that covert wasn’t going to get them anywhere with her.

He’d been waiting for her to tell him how the night had gone. 

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” he asked her.

“You were watching me and Alec at work, yes?” she asked.

“I was, did you know that you touched him?”

“I realized it later. I did again, when we were walking. It feels natural,” she said with completely feigned nonchalance.

And with that, she told him about the evening. From running into James and Eve before they left the building, to dinner and the conversation, the altercation at the bar and James’ request to spar with her. There was a lot of information. She told him what stories she’d shared, what stories Alec had told her and James’ version of those same stories. 

He knew that she assumed what Alec knew, James knew and vice versa. Tristan thought she was right, and hoped the two men understood that it was the same for her and him. All four of them were brilliant at secrets, and Devina had the highest security clearance. She was the only one with things they couldn’t talk about. And those things she didn’t talk with Tristan about, either.

“Are you going to do it?” he asked.

“Yes, but I need you to rig the room for me,” she said.

“Rig it how?” he wanted to know.

“I could do it myself, but you’d be faster at it. I just need to make sure that the video doesn’t get recorded to MI6 servers. Recorded to anything, actually.”

“Alright, I can do that. I just need to know when and the room location,” he told her.

“Well,” she said, “this is why I am asking you to do it instead of doing it myself. I have a feeling he’s going to jump me.”

“Really?” he asked, incredulous.

“Yes,” she said, rolling her eyes. “He wants to see what I can do, and that means unprepared. He’s a spy, it’s how he’s been trained to think.”

“Uhm, you’re a spy. Maybe it’s how you’ve been trained to think,” he told her dryly.

“I’m not a spy,” she replied mildly, “I’m a technician in q-branch.”

He snorted at her, “Yes you are.”

He laughed as she stuck her tongue out at him.

}*{

Devina was right. 

James was planning on taking her by surprise, but she got to him first. And he was as unprepared for it as any 00 agent could be.

It was a rare time when James was actually in the office for several hours. In his stubborn way, he’d rolled in after noon in response to his summons. He’d been called in for some clarifications on an AAR and had gotten cornered by accounting for one or two of his expense reports and was now headed down to q-branch to see if Q and Devina were up to anything interesting. He was fairly certain that they would both be there, regardless of the late hour. Devina was training to run ops and at least one 00 was at a point where monitoring was needed.

What he didn’t know was the Devina had been following his movements since he used his prints to enter the building from the employee portion of the garage. He didn’t know that she had as much access to the building’s monitoring systems as Q did. Nor did he know that she was waiting for just the right time to surprise him. 

When James stepped into the lift and pressed the button for the sub-basement that q-branch occupied, she winked at Q, stretched and walked out of the branch. 

She was wearing light colored clothing today. Neutral gray colors, just about the same color of the concrete walls in the elevator lobby, with neutral colored boots. Her arms were covered for a change. 

The lighting in the sub-basement was terrible. It hadn’t been upgraded with the rest of the branch. The work spaces were adequately lit, so the branch employees never put in a work order to bring the lights anywhere else in the department up to standard. 

So, when James stepped out of the lift, the dim lighting didn’t give him a pause. He also didn’t see Devina leaning causally against the wall by the elevators, as he was intent on where he was going. To say that he was caught off-guard by the foot that hooked his back foot over the heel of his front foot would be an understatement. It was a childish prank, really, but it succeed in making him stumble and catching his attention.

He was turning before he’d completely caught his balance, to assess the threat and Devina was on him. Her blows were purposefully light, but fast and varied, keeping him off balance and just working to keep her from connecting with anything that would hurt too badly. 

Any time he thought he might have a hold on her, she melted out of his grasp. He could barely follow her movements, she blend in fairly well with the environment and he kept loosing track of her. She finally swept his legs out from under him and stepped back, giving him time and room to get up and properly balanced on his feet.

She stopped moving and stayed standing about a meter in front of him, body neutral as she waited for him to move. By this time, he was frustrated. It might have been on purpose that she’d done it, but it certainly was to her advantage as she made him chase her around the room after his initial lunge. She kept melting just out of the reach of his finger tips.

He managed to get close enough to her to land a jab to her ribs and he felt them compress under his fist before she used the twist in her own body to spin along his arm and he felt and answering blow to his right kidney that made him stagger before she was once again out of reach and he was struggling to track her movements.

Bloody hell, he thought, she’s a fucking ninja.

They continued to dance, with her leading for a little while longer. A few blows were exchanged, nothing very solid until he was able to capitalize on falling over. He was off balance and stumbled, hitching up on her shoulder and making her catch his weight. He followed through with a hard blow that caught her diaphragm. 

She hissed her breath out through her teeth and absorbed the blow, kicking his feet out and using the grip he had on her shoulder to twist and lever him face down to the ground and land on him, hard, driving her knees between his thighs, splaying his legs out awkwardly. Before he could get his arms underneath him, she had her right hand under and around his right shoulder in a half nelson and her left arm bent around the front of his neck in a hold designed to cut off the blood flow on either side of his neck. He couldn’t get any leverage with either his legs or his left arm to do a damn thing about it.

“Did you enjoy sparring with me, James?” he heard her ask, just before he passed out.

}*{

James came to in the slow way that let him know he’d been unconscious rather than asleep. He stayed still to evaluate his situation. He was on a hard surface, flat on his back, limbs arranged comfortably and he wasn’t tied up. He pondered that for a moment, listening. He didn’t hear anyone or anything close by, so he risked opening his eyes.

As he opened his eyes, and flicked them around, he recognized that he was in a familiar elevator lobby then he saw Devina, and remembered exactly what happened. She was sitting next to him, legs folded into a half lotus, hands on her knees and eyes closed.

“Are you a ninja?” he asked her, suspiciously.

Her eyes opened as soon as he spoke and he lifted his head to get a better look at him. She smiled at him, brilliantly.

“You’re awake. That didn’t take long.”

He grunted at her in acknowledgment and she gracefully rose to her feet as he sat up. She held her hand out to him to help him up. He looked from her hand to her smiling eyes. Her expression was open and not at all smug as he took her hand and used it to help lever himself up.

“How are you feeling?” she asked him, once he was steady.

“Remarkably better than usual after being knocked out,” he said wryly. “Might I inquire as to what brought that on?”

“Well, James, you said you wanted to spar. I didn’t think you would schedule a training room and set up a time with me,” her eyes twinkled as the corners of her lips twitched against a smile.

He chuckled and nodded in agreement. “Quite correct. I was obviously not expecting you to have the same thought.”

“If you had requested that, I would have been immediately suspicious.”

“You have the right of it. Though I noticed you didn’t answer my original question,” he remarked.

She looked at him, sly, out of the corner of her eye and said, “Of course I didn't,” before she winked at him an made her way back to q-branch.

}*{

Devina slipped back into q-branch and walked up to her workstation and went back to working on refining the programming of their upgraded fit-bits. She looked exactly as she had when she’d left and had been gone for less than a half-hour.

Tristan looked over at her from the work station next to her and grinned.

“Did he take it well?” he asked.

“Better than expected. We’ll see after it sinks in,” she said in return. “The feed is all set?”

“Yes, I didn’t even let anyone watch. Just me. You were spectacular, by the way. I’ve never actually seen you in action. I’d like to have been able to rewind it and watch in slow motion.”

She blushed lightly, “He asked me if I was a ninja.”

Tristan burst into laughter and kept laughing until he almost cried. The other people working in the branch were looking up at the odd sight of Devina blushing and Tristan doubled over with laughter and gasping for breath. She gave him a scathing look before going back to her work, pretending there wasn’t a smile twitching at her mouth.

Once Tristan caught his breath, he grinned at her, hugely. “Do you think they’ll ever figure out that is exactly what you are?” 

“Probably,” was all she said to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	13. Speculate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are going wonky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Around here is where I got stuck. So, I wrote Mitsuo until I can figure out where to go next! Check it out if you'd like.

Alec’s eyes roamed over James’ rumpled appearance from the couch as he walked into their flat. He raised his eyebrows in question.

“She’s a ninja,” Bond said, flatly.

“I thought you weren’t going after her, today,” Alec said.

“I didn’t, she jumped me in the lobby outside q-branch,” James informed him on his way to the liquor cabinet.

“Is she hurt?” Alec asked, craning around to look at him over the back of the couch.

“Not even a little bit. Might have two bruises around her midsection, but I was the one who woke up on the floor.”

“So, she’s a ninja?” Alec searched for more information.

“Alec,” James said as he flopped down onto the couch with a bottle of scotch and a full glass in hand, “I couldn’t even get a hand on her. The two shots I got in were lucky and she was able to use them to counter attack. Early on, before she provoked me into chasing her around the god damned room, she proved that if she’d wanted, she could have beat me bloody.” He sighed as he took a swallow of his drink.

“And, she blended into the walls. She was dressed for it, her arms were even covered. She looked great, but it was devastatingly effective. Christ, I feel like a moron.”

“You know, I told you about the blending into the background thing. She did that the night I followed her out and we went to the park.” Alec reminded him.

“Right,” James said, “I’ll admit that I thought you were exaggerating. But you were right about her being a natural predator, too. I saw it in her. I am amazed at her control.”

Alec hummed, thinking, “Why did she jump you?’

“Because she correctly assumed that I wouldn’t book a training room and invite her to come spar.” James grimaced. 

Alec laughed at that, “We keep forgetting that even if she isn’t a spy, she grew up with them testing her, constantly. Of course she knows the usual ways that we’d approach things.”

“Yeah, but a lot of the things she does, she didn’t learn from any agent that we know,” James pointed out.

“You just made your own point. We have no idea who was in the program when she was a child. She still could have learned it at MI6,” Alec reminded him.

“We could find out. We have the clearance, and the agent files are accessible from that far back,” James remarked.

“Or,” Alec cautioned, “we could ask her.”

“Do you think she would tell us?” James looked dubious.

“She might. I know she prefers us to be direct. She’s had a lot of secrecy in her life and she doesn’t have to lie to us.”

James frowned, “And still has plenty of secrecy in her life, I’d bet. There is no way that MI6 knows about her skills and doesn’t use them. For either training or for field work.”

Alec looked blank for a moment before his face became completely closed off. “Have you heard the rumors?”

“About her? Mostly just about how she and Q are screwing all over q-branch, which I am fairly certain aren’t true,” James laughed until he caught the expression on Alec’s face. “Alec, what do you mean?”

“That M’s balls dropped and he’s found a new 000,” Alec said.

“Oh, you mean that rumor. Alec, there have been rumors about 000 for as long as you and I have been in this business,” James went on. “They were never substantiated.”

“So you are saying that the return of the rumors coinciding with the arrival of a brilliant ninja-boffin is a coincidence.” Alec said with a look that suggested James was being stupid.

James sighed and tilted his head back. “Shit. There are no such things as coincidence in this business.”

“I think we both need the reminder,” Alec said, grave.

James looked up at him and said again, with feeling, “Shit.”

}*{

A week and another mission later, Devina was on her way up to the administration offices. She wanted to check in with Tanner. 

As she walked toward Tanner’s office, she was pleased to see that Eve was not yet at her desk. Good, the less small talk with that annoying woman, the better. She’d heard the rumors about her and Tristan and knew they had come from Eve. No one in q-branch would be that stupid. 

Jame and Alec had both been sent out on different missions and thankfully she had been no where near their locations for her own mission. She knew it wouldn’t be much longer before they figured it out, if they hadn’t already. It was best to be prepared.

She knocked on Tanner’s door and walked in upon the call to enter. She closed the door behind her and strode forward to slide into a chair. She waited patiently for him to give her his full attention before speaking.

“May I tell them?” she asked without preamble.

“Why do you wish to?” he asked, leaning back, relaxed.

“Because I don’t wish to kill them,” she said, also at leisure in her chair.

“And you think it will come to that?”

“I am authorized and expected to neutralize any compromise of my cover. Do you think it won’t come to that?” she challenged.

He sighed, resigned. “Can you keep it from M?”

“Are you sure that I should?” she scrutinized him, carefully reading his body language.

“Yes,” his look was open, careful, fearful. 

“M is,” he paused, searching for the right words, “under the impression that we have something that can be used as leverage.”

He shuddered minutely as her eyes turned frigid, like cold steel, and she said very quietly, “Be careful, Bill. I am loyal. He is loyal. They are loyal. We all care about why we do what we do.”

Tanner sat forward, nothing hidden now and spoke with quiet passion, “I know that. M doesn’t. 006 was thought to be a traitor for years; 007 was dead for months and the first operation he was involved in upon his return left Olivia dead and Q was heavily involved with it. He has virtually no oversight over what you do and how you do it. He doesn’t know. How could anyone know who hasn’t been here?,” he sighed, deeply, looking down at his desk, “I should have been more wary when he asked me for you.”

Devina considered him for several nerve wracking moments before her eyes shifted back to their normal blue-gray. “Can you help us?” she asked him. 

His eyes took on a desperate sheen, “I can’t compromise myself.”

She nodded. She understood; he had a family.

“Thank you, Tanner. I appreciate your advice. Is M in?” she asked.

“No, he won’t be in for another hour or thereabout.” Tanner said, cautious.

“I will make sure he has no record of my visit or this conversation,” she assured him.

She didn’t wait for a verbal dismissal. She bowed formally to him in a show of respect he hadn’t seen her give to anyone other that Olivia and Mitsuo. 

His eyes, face and posture showed nothing but shocked gratitude.

}*{

Tristan looked up as Devina stepped into his office. She was livid. She was perfectly still and self contained, and that was the problem. Her face was blank and her eyes looked like glass. He wondered what the fuck was about to happen.

Her tone was light and conversational, it was eerie, matched to her face, “Good morning, Q. I was about to step out for coffee, join me?” she asked him.

“Yes, that sounds lovely, I need to stretch my legs a bit,” he responded and stood, following her out of his office. He didn’t falter when he saw that she had her personal laptop bag with her.

They chatted companionably as they left the building and he was thankful that she was able to keep her shit together enough to get out without anyone knowing anything was wrong.

They walked a bit, toward one of three coffee shops close by, intentionally choosing the one least likely to be frequent by other MI6 employees. They got coffee and sat at a table and she quickly pulled out a combination jammer/booster that they’d recently developed for their own use. There was a less effective version that was pushed through q-branch for field agents.

She didn’t speak to him again until she had it set up and her laptop open. She secured herself an Internet connection and accessed the back door they had built into the MI6 firewall. She looked up at him and he saw the burning anger in her eyes before she looked back to her computer and began:

“I need to wipe my movements in the building before 0800 from the servers. I also have to wipe the file of my conversation with Tanner this morning and replace it with 15 minutes of the usual sounds of his office. I already had re-entered the building and my coffee leave with you will be fine to stay in the system. I managed to avoid people on my previous entry and exit so at least no one can be questioned about it,” she paused and he took the moment to interrupt her.

“Devi, love, what is going on?” Tristan asked her, concerned.

“I will talk to you about it, at home. Do you have your secure phone on you? Not your secure MI6 phone, but our phone?” she asked him.

He nodded and she continued. “I am sending you an audio file to your phone.” She pulled some headphones from her bag and passed them to him. “Listen to it, then wipe it from your phone. I will keep a copy of it; I need it.” She was still working on her computer.

“I need a secure form of contact for James and Alec that MI6 can’t trace or access,” she said, looking up at him, again.

“I can arrange that,” he said to her, soothingly. 

They sat in silence for another 15 minutes until she closed her laptop and smiled at him. His secure phone vibrate with an incoming message. He looked at her and she nodded to him.

“Listen to it here,” she said.

He plugged in the headphones she had handed to him and accessed the file on his phone. As it played the color drained from his face before he flushed in anger, eyes glittering. When it finished, he wiped the message and handed her back her headphones. They looked at each other for a few seconds, all the love they had passing between them. They would meet this, together.

She packed up her jammer/booster and her laptop, packing them away. They both went to the counter to refill their drinks before they went back to MI6. They spoke very little on the way. 

“When we get back, I need you to verify that I got the audio files for Tanner’s office done correctly and that there is no record of me having been in the building. I believe I got the biometric files cleared, and the surveillance, but I want confirmation. Will you?” she asked him.

He nodded at her, “Of course.”

She smiled at him in thanks, “If I haven’t told you lately, Tris, I love you.”

“I love you, too, Devi. We’ll take care of this,” he said in return, now truly worried. 

Devina was not a person who vocalized emotion, easily.

}*{

James looked at the phone on the low table in front of him and read the note again that had been with it, again.

James,  
First thing, Alec has received a identical package.  
Second, when the both of you return, you need to meet with Q and D.  
Third, the phone is secured, by us. Completely secure.  
Talk soon,  
Fredericks

He picked up the phone and flipped it over a few times, debating what to do with it. 

He eventually managed to unlock the phone with his left thumb print. He opened up the contact list and it had three listings. “D,” “Trevelyan,” and “Q.” 

On impulse, he thumbed open the information for “D” and called. 

“Fredericks,” Devina’s voice clipped out of the speaker into his ear.

“Devina,” he greeted her in return. “If I get back first, is it my turn for a date?”

Her laughter rang out and she responded with, “It’s your turn for a date when you ask me to go on a date.”

He hummed agreement and asked her, “Devina, would you go to dinner with me when I get back?” 

“Yes, James, I would love to. Just let me know the details.”

“Alright, that’s settled. Can we speak about the need for these phones?” he asked.

“We would rather wait until all four of us are together,” Devina told him. “Q and I are looking into a few things and hope to have some solid information in a few days. Right now all we have are hunches and speculation.”

“How bad might it be?” James asked, seriously.

“Bond,” she reminded him steadily, “You know better than to speculate without proper intelligence. We will discuss it when you are here.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	14. More plot!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Devina further investigates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't resist throwing a Holmes or two in here.

Devina sat back from her computer, sighing heavily as she scrubbed her hands over her face. Her missions briefs from the current M spread out around her. Of course she had kept them. She didn’t know him well enough to trust that she wouldn’t need them, later.

After her discussion with Tanner she had began to investigate the missions that she had been on. She had a feeling they were tests of her ability to follow orders without question. 

She so wished that she had asked questions.

She had no illusions that bad things happened only to bad people. She knew better from personal experience. She did, however, not like being duped into evil for the sake of evil. She had been taught better. 

It was why her Shihan had worked for MI6 in the first place. There was a sense of trying to limit evil, even if it was an endless job. The philosophy behind it was not particularly sound, but the reality is, evil doesn’t just stop being evil. Evil is stopped. Often, it required evil in order to do so.

She sighed again and picked up her phone that was a duplicate of the phones she had sent to Alec and James, putting through a call to Tristan.

“Speak,” he answered.

“I need to know where the intelligence for my missions comes from,” she said without preamble. “I’m getting the feeling these are all bullshit.”

“Are you serious?” he asked, the faint traces of beginning anger in his voice. 

“Yes,” she said, voice heavy with distaste. “I have the actual printed documents, but I don’t have the necessary items to look that the paper and track the device they were printed from.

“I also want to run a compiler on the phrases in the briefs and see if they were pulled from other files.”

It was Tristan’s turn to sigh, “I’ll have to write a program for that and insert it into the system.”

“Would you like me to? I can do it from here and bring it to the lab with the documents,” she offered.

“If you could, we are somewhat bogged down right now. We are running three missions at the moment and they all need a personal touch, just now. Do you want to come in and actually work?” He asked her.

“Sure, I’ll come in,” she agreed, “It’s not like this is going anywhere.”

She disconnected the call and started to pack up. She grabbed the last page of one of the files on which nothing but a punctuation mark was printed. Whoever had made these briefs was a wasteful fucker.

}*{

Tristan looked over at Devina where she was on the coms with Alec, guiding him out of the sub-basements of the building he was in. He’d requested her on him coms even though she wasn’t yet cleared to run any ops for the 00 program. She was doing fine and Alec was actually listening to her suggestions. 

It was clear to Tristan that she had been on the 00 side of things. The information that she’d asked her support team for and the directions and suggestions that she gave to Alec were wildly successful. He’d be on his way back to London, soon.

Tristan smiled, shutting down his own workstation as he signed off with James. It seemed that both agents had moved the time line of their respective missions forward. They would be returning much earlier than anticipated.   
He didn’t see this as a bad thing. 

Tristan had allowed Devina some time and space to investigate Tanner’s remarks to her on her own. He knew that she would share anything she found with him, and from the sounds of it, she had definitely found something. She’d brought in a page with her, and he knew that they would be looking at it later.

He looked over at her as she signed off with Alec, “Affirmative, 006, we will see you back in London.”

}*{

Devina grit her teeth, briefly, before her expression blanked back into a pleasantly neutral facade. 

How someone so monumentally stupid could be the head of MI6 was beyond her. They had run a trace on the piece of document she’d brought with her and actually had traced it back to equipment purchased by Mallory, himself.

As she considered that it was too easy, she reigned in that train of thought. It often was easy. Still, she’d need to confirm and clarify with the powers that be. She was in the position to remove an internal national threat and that fell under someone else’s purview. 

“Tristan,” she said, getting his attention.

He looked up at her in question.

“I have to talk to Mycroft,” she told him.

Tristan took in her posture and and facial expression before sitting down heavily and putting his face in his hands.  
She barked out a laugh at him while she quickly erased the evidence of their search from the system.

“What are you so worried about? I’m the one that has to deal with him.”

}*{

Devina was, once again, sitting on a bench in Regent’s park, waiting for the usual black car to come collect her. She thought fondly of the cat and mouse gmes they’d played in the beginning of their association.

She had come to his attention when she’d called MI6 to the airport upon her return to London. MI6’s weight being thrown around on home soil was something that was immediately brought to his attention.

He’d conventionally sent her a dinner invitation to MI6. There had been no other way to contact her. Her name hadn’t even been on it when M had presented it to her. M had briefed her on who he was (definitely NOT a minor position in government) and she’d accepted the invitation to dine at his club.

He’d been most difficult to read, but she was able to see the frustration in his eyes as the evening went on and he was able to get nothing from her that she didn’t allow. If he had, she would have given him his due for being clever enough to sort her out. She had no fear of who she was, so had no fear of what he could find out about her.

They had chat, amicably, both showing remarkable intelligence on a wide variety of subjects. He done his trick of trying to deduce her and not gotten very far. He was not pleased with how much she’d been able to deduce about him. She’d not found out what he wanted of her beyond her identity and he’d not found out who she was, other than a name he could address further correspondence to, Patricia Brown.

Over the years they met many times, drawing more information out about the other, each time. They shared a healthy, mutual respect and she’d told him the full truth of her association with MI6 long before she’d left their service. He had sent her work through M, over the years, and tried to get her to work for him directly, more than once.

She ended her musings as the familiar black car pulled up to the curb closest to her. She wondered if Anthea had forgiven her yet for reprogramming her phone.

}*{

Devina did not allow the relief to show on her face as she trot down the steps of the Diogenes Club upon the conclusion of her lengthy meeting with Mycroft Holmes.

She had startled him by being completely forthcoming about the situation she found herself in. Her suspicions about her return to MI6, her worry about the danger the organization was in from a director that was unable to judge his agents. The idea that she’d been tested the way that she had been. She told him of and played him the clip of the conversation she’d had with Tanner, whom Mycroft was quite familiar with. 

He’d listened to her concerns and her desired plan of action. Having him in agreement would give her a lot more leeway in how to go about removing Gareth Mallory from MI6. 

He had asked her to give him a week to verify and expand her information before she moved against the current M, though he gave her leave to speak to Q, 006 and 007. He agreed that their loyalty was not in question and should be consulted should she have to take action before proper plans could be made.

Mycroft asked her about Moneypenny and what her position in all of it was. Devina was honest about not liking Eve Moneypenny, personally, but admit to having no reason, as yet, to believe that she was more loyal to Mallory than MI6.

They had wrapped up their conversation with the usual banter, pleasantries and promises to meet again, now that she was back in the espionage business. 

She let loose a brief smile and a small jauntiness to her step as she made her way to Tristan’s flat to update him on what was going on.

}*{

“Tristan!,” she called as she came through the door.

“In here,” came the reply from the kitchen, looking up at her when she ambled through with a grin on her face. “The meeting went well, I take it?”

“Oh, are you making tea? Make some for me, too.” She boosted herself up onto his counter and banged her heels against the cabinets as she looked on. “Yes, it went really well. He’s asked me for a week before I move decisively.”

“Move on what? Hello, you still haven’t told me what is going on.” Tristan said, exasperated as he pulled out the necessities for tea.

She sighed, “Are you sure you want to hear it? It’s going to be bad.”

He banged one of the mugs he’d pulled out down on the counter in irritation, “Yes, Devina. I am about fed up with being in the dark on this, having just enough information to wonder if we need to run.”

“Alright,” she gave in, hopping off he counter and taking her mug of tea before heading into his living room to get settled, with Tristan following closely behind her.

Once they got settled onto the couch, she looked at him, her eyes boring into him as they did when she was about to dump something on him that he had completely missed but shouldn’t have. His mind raced as he tried to think of what it was. She could see it in his face and gave him time to figure it out.

He collapsed back against the arm of the couch as he tried to put the pieces together. 

“Something about Mallory. You have a concern, but what?” he spoke aloud, “And why did you need to see Mycroft-because internal affairs are his forte. What do you need him to approve…” he trailed off, looking up at her. 

“You want Mallory replaced.”

She made an agreeable noise at him before clarifying, “I want to remove Mallory.”

“Remove him? Oh. Right. Why not replaced?” he asked.

She leveled her patented ‘don’t be stupid’ look at him. “Tris, you don’t replace the head of MI6. Look what happened the last time someone tried.”

He nodded in understanding and asked instead, “Why do you think he warrants removal?”

“He not smart enough to be the director of MI6,” she replied.

Tristan just raised an eyebrow at her, giving his own patented ‘don’t be an asshole’ look. 

“He hasn’t the instinct for this work. Tristan, what do I do when my cover is compromised?” she began to lead him along.

He shuddered, “You eliminate the problem.”

“So, I need to ask James how he heard of my cafe. I am fairly certain it was not a coincidence; there are no coincidences in this business, after all. And saying that, do you think that James and Alec don’t compromise my cover?” she asked blandly.

He shook his head, “I knew immediately that they wouldn’t rest until they knew your whole life.”

She nodded in agreement, “Anyone would have know that about them. And now I am back at MI6, with no provision to be a known agent. I am only listed as a technician in q-branch.”

“And Tanner told you that you should tell them only if you could keep it from M,” he said, thoughtful. “What did he mean about leverage if he felt you were compromised?”

“You, Tristan. The only leverage they have against me is you,” she told him bluntly. “M means for me to kill his best two agents because he doesn’t know enough to trust them. And he has to have a plan to eliminate me, because he must know that if you can be levered against me, he cannot keep me from attempting to kill him to protect you.”

Tristan went pale as she was speaking, shaking his head in denial before asking hesitantly, “What were you looking for in the mission briefs?”

She hesitated, her habit of not divulging this information longstanding. “I was looking for the reason behind the killing. I am sent after people that can be quantified as future threats, barely on the radar. Even people who are accidentally of interest, which does happen, rather more than one would think.

“I can’t find the reasoning behind my last three missions,” she said, quietly.

He blinked at her, “What?”

“Tristan,” she said, “I don’t know why I killed 15 people. I can’t find the reason for it. I cannot corroborate the evidence.”

Tristan stared at her for a moment before asking, “What would be the point of that?”

“I can only imagine that it is to see how well I follow orders that aren't from my grandmother,” she said.

“Shit,” he said, with feeling as he noticed how haggard her face suddenly looked. 

They lapsed into silence, both thinking of their very personal reasons for helping to make MI6 the powerhouse that it was. Even without that, they both truly believed in what they did, and to have that subvert for any reason was untenable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	15. Confusion to Moneypennys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's keep it going.

Eve Moneypenny was standing in the doorway of her lab.

Devina kept working on the door panel she was modifying as a weapons cache for one of MI6’s autos that James and Alec preferred to use. Eve had either ignored the warning light outside the door, or she didn’t know that welding damaged the eyes and skin without proper protections. Eve flinched at the volume in the lab, Alt-J blaring through the room loudly enough for Devina to hear it over her machines. 

She finished tacking the pieces together and disengaged her machine. She pulled her gloves off, used a remote to lower the music volume and flipped her helmet up, looking at Eve.

“Miss Moneypenny,” she called out, calmly, drawing her attention. “As happy as I am to have you visit, I must ask that you heed the warning lights outside this lab. The light will irreparably damage your eyes, and there can be plenty of hearing damage,” she finished with a small smile. 

“How can I help you?” she asked, taking in Eve’s body language as she came further into the room.

“I’m sorry,” Eve said, “I didn’t realize about the warnings. I just wanted to come and see how you have been settling in. This room is new, isn’t it?”

Eve, settled against the edge of her work table, obviously not realizing how filthy it would be. Devina turned her amusement into a flattered smile. 

“Yes, it is. I convinced Q that letting me have a welding lab would be to fabrication’s benefit. This is an easy arena for me to be creative in.”

They chatted for a bit about what things she had been working on, how she enjoyed being in q-branch, if she’d found the good eateries in the area and devolved into less work related topics. The conversation was light, and superficial, Eve giving away more than Devina, but it was more by the obviousness of her body language than anything else.

Eve was going to seduce her, if she allowed it. 

Devina decided to go along, playing up the socially oblivious boffin stereotype that she’d never actually fit. The strategy was working wonderfully. Eve was getting mildly frustrated, but was amused that Devina just didn’t seem to be getting it.

Eventually, Devina blew a breath out and looked at the clock, apologizing to Eve.

“I’m sorry, Miss Moneypenny, but I have to finish this up in the next hour,” she looked down, gesturing at the metal on the table before looking up through her eyelashes at Eve. “Thank you for coming by, though,” she said, raising her head and smiling.

Eve smiled at her slowly, leaning closer to her, “Of course, please call me ‘Eve,’” she said, before straightening from the table. “Come up and visit me, soon.” She winked at Devina before starting for the door.

Devina allowed a small frown of apparent confusion to furrow her brow as she watched Eve walk out the door. Once the door was closed behind her, she chuckled a bit, before turning her music back on and getting back to work.

She wondered how long this plan of Eve’s would take to play out.

And what the goal was.

}*{

“Q, let’s hit the canteen.”

Tristan looked up and Devina was leaning casually against the frame of his office door. She looked vastly amused by something. This should be good.

“Yes, let’s,” he said, standing to follow her up. 

As they made their way out to the elevators, he asked, “What’s up?”

“Eve came to pay me a visit,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

“In the welding lab? How did that go?” he asked.

“Well, she didn’t pay attention to the warning lights, so will probably have a headache. She also didn’t notice how filthy her dress was after leaning on my work table,” she said, smiling as she playfully evaded his question.

He rolled his eyes, “Right,” he said, “what did she want?”

Now Devina rolled her eyes, “She wants to seduce me.”

“Oh, really? That will be interesting. Are you going to let her?”

“Maybe. I am very curious as to what she wants. Is it for information, or for access? She might think that closer to me is followed by closer to you,” she looked at him, the calculation showing in her face.

“Ew,” Tristan responded, nose crinkling, “I am not interested in that.”

“Well,” she reminded him, “I know that, but why would she? She seems like the type to enjoy snaking sex away from her friends.”

They continued to chat about the possibilities as they gathered some food and sat down at one of the tables to eat. Thankfully, MI6 realized that if they served good food, more of q-branch would be likely to eat, as they got caught up in their projects.

They had moved on to actual work conversation when Devina paused and pulled out her secure phone. She raised an eyebrow and passed it over to him.

`When do you want to meet?-J`

“Tonight?” Tristan suggested, shrugging as he passed the phone back to her. 

She nodded, “I’ll have them meet us at our pub,” she commented as she sent a text back, “we can go to my place from there.”

He smiled, knowing that she was taking a big leap, to trust them with both the place they liked to go the most, as well as her actual flat.

She looked up at him and smiled, “It’s all set.”

He reached across the table and touched her hand, briefly, before pulling back. He’d caught the slight tightness around her eyes.

“We’ll be fine,” he reminded her.

}*{

Devina was brooding and Tristan was allowing it. They were walking briskly to the pub where they were meeting James and Alec, and she was taking the time to think over what she was about to do.

She never let anyone in. Tristan was the only person alive who knew her anywhere close to well. With the death of her grandmother and the absence of her Shihan, there was barely anyone she trusted with her professional self, much less the person that she actually was.

Professionally, she trusted Mycroft Holmes. She’d needed him to authorize her course of action, and he was currently the closest thing that she had to a boss. He’d not just agreed that 006 and 007 should be privy to the current situation, but that they know her past and how she’d gained her position in MI6. How she and, after his recruitment, Tristan had laid the foundations and shored up the walls of MI6.

Olivia and Mycroft had been colleagues who had trusted one another implicitly. He had allowed Olivia to keep Devina private so long as he’d gotten the opportunity to figure Devina out. That decision had lead to Devina trusting him far more quickly than she would have otherwise.

Mycroft was asking her to impart much more information than what was in her and Tristan’s files. Information he knew because of the trust he’d fostered between them. It was not something that any of them took lightly.  
She slowed to a stop and put her hand on Tristan’s arm, turning him toward her. She answered the question that was on his face as he looked at her.

“Are you ok with this? This is going to expose us more than we ever have been, before,” she asked him seriously.

He relaxed, smiling at her in sympathy. “Yes. This was always a possibility, and you know it. I have worked with these two a long time and trust them a good amount. If it were anyone else,” he stated baldly, “I’d say we take our chances on the run.”

She nodded sharply, remembering all that James and Alec had been through, themselves, for MI6. This would be fine. They would want the right leadership just as much as she and Tristan did. They were just as invested.

She caught their tail out of the corner of her eye, again. Tristan’s look turned briefly confused as she used the hand on his arm to pull him close and wind around his arm as she tugged him along toward the pub.

She leaned up and whispered in his ear, “She is following us. We will give her a show once all four of us are there. Confusion to our enemies,” she winked up at him.

Tristan laughed, head thrown back, a beautiful, full-throated sound. She loved when he did that. Her brooding over, she teased him and they bantered the rest of their way to the pub, still twined together.

When the reached their destination, he pulled away enough to open the door for them, keeping a hold of her hand as she led them through the door. They found James and Alec already there, sitting in what they called their usual spot. James sat where Devina usually did, leaving Alec on Tristan’s side. It worked out perfectly for what she had in mind. She signaled Tristan in what looked like and absent gesture and his smile widened as he realized what this was going to look like to Eve when she came in.

The place was crowded enough that they had to weave through a mass of people to get to the table, Devina keeping Tristan with her by the grip she had on his hand. When they arrived at the table, both she and Tristan unceremoniously dropped into the booth on their respective sides, and startled the hell out of the men already there by getting rather friendly, rather quickly.

Tristan mirrored her neatly as she sat and lounged against James, back against his ribcage as she pulled his arm around her shoulder and she bent her left leg up and propped her heel on the bench seat. Her knee was in a closed position, leaned against the table, so she didn’t look like she was on display, just like she was very comfortable with the man she was with. 

“We are about to have company,” she said quietly, looking first at Alec and then at James. “I am not sure why she decided to follow, but I figured it would be easier to find out if I allowed it.”

Alec looked a bit bemused by the situation he found himself in, with Tristan practically in his lap. James opened his mouth to say something, she assumed to ask a question, but chuckled instead as his eyes swept the crowd. She followed his look and smiled as she saw Eve Moneypenny making her way to the bar, as though she didn’t see them.

“She’s here?” Tristan asked, curious.

“Yes,” Devina responded. “Well, he wanted to know where her loyalties lie, I guess I’m going to find out, sooner than I thought.”

“He?” asked James, putting the hand over her shoulder on her jaw and tipping her head up toward him so that he could see her face. She lifted her eyes at him and smiled.

“Later,” she spoke calmly, knowing that James couldn’t hold her if she didn’t want him to. “I am under orders to tell you everything. But let’s eat and get out of here, first. Without our guest.”

He leaned to kiss the side of her face and released her jaw. She smiled and hummed, pleased. She looked over at where Tristan and Alec were still friendly and watching her and James intently. 

She grinned at Alec and said, “What? It’s about time the pace was accelerated a bit. Weren’t we all hoping that this is the direction that we were headed in? Well, sort of, anyway.” She gestured between James and Alec, before pointing at herself and Tristan. “You want me, you get him, as well.”

Tristan laughed at the, frankly astonished, looks that crossed James’ and Alec’s faces. “We assumed the same was true in reverse, yes?” he said to them, still chuckling.

It was obvious that James and Alec hasn’t thought it through, as they both looked thoughtful and relaxed back into the position they found themselves in with Devina and Tristan. 

They all began chatting, animated and having a delightful time out, pausing to order their food and drinks. They bantered back and forth and were able to talk about many things, none work related.

Devina and Tristan sat up and put their feet down when food arrived, and they continued to chatter amiably throughout dinner and a couple rounds of drinks. Eventually, Eve did come by the table. They were, of course, unsurprised, having kept a surreptitious eye on here since she’d come in.

“Eve!” Devina said happily as Eve stopped at the end of their booth. “I thought I saw you earlier. Are you hear with anyone?”

Eve’s returning smile was a bit vacant as she took in the intimacy between the two couples in the booth. Tristan was snug under Alec’s arm and Alec would randomly stroke down his shoulder while Devina was sitting a bit forward and James had his arm around her waist, his hand occasionally squeezing her hip. 

Eve replied with a large, somewhat predatory smile, “No, I am here by myself, do you mind if I join you?” She looked pointedly at the space next to Devina.

“Well, you can sit for a moment, but we just called for our check,” Devina said guilelessly, patting the small space next to her as she scoot closer to James.

Alec bared his teeth at Eve in a mockery of a smile and asked, “Did you get stood up, Eve?” pulling Tristan a bit closer.

Devina ran with the bait and turned to Eve before she could formulate and answer, “Oh dear,” she said, all sympathy, “did you? That’s terrible; people are such assholes, sometimes.” She remarked, patting Eve’s arm in comfort.

James twitched beside her as Eve grit her teeth before forcing a smile and replying, “Oh, no. I just was looking to relax for the evening and I had been by here a few times.”

“Ah, well, no shame in taking one’s self out for a good time,” Devina said, thought it was obvious that she felt Eve was just trying to save face. She winked at Alec where Eve couldn’t see her.

Alec’s grin turned real as he had to pat Tristan’s back after he started to sputter into his drink. “Alright, there?” he asked.

Tristan nodded and looked up at their waitress as she approached the table with their check. Devina and Tristan glared at one another as they prepared to begin their familiar argument over who would pay.

They were beat out by James and Alec who just held their cards out the the waitress and she smiled as she took them. “Even split?” she asked.

The two men just nodded at her smiling and they began to chuckle as Tristan and Devina turned their glares onto the men sitting opposite them at the table. 

Alec held his hands out in a surrender gesture at Devina’s glare and James just chuckled harder and said “Next time,” to Tristan’s.

Devina and Tristan just sighed, rolling their eyes as they faced each other again and smiled slightly. The evening was turning out well.

The cards came back, receipts were signed and Devina managed to almost knock Eve off the bench when they were getting up to leave. Devina and Tristan came back together, shoulder to shoulder ahead of James and Alec as they walked out the door. 

Devina signaled to Tristan before she looked back at James and Alec, grinning.

“You two ready to run? We are going to need to loose her and I’d rather do it quickly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	16. Taking care of reckless housebreakers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moneypenny is not being very bright.

Devina chuckled at the looks on their faces.

“I don’t really intend to make you run, but hop to, so we can watch what she does,” she said, tugging Tristan along with her down the side of the building across the street. 

As expected, they followed. She knew that Tristan could keep up with her, she’d been making him run drills with her when they both had time. He was falling back into the habit from their uni days, helped along by the possibility of having to disappear.

She broke into a brief run and leapt up to the fire escape on the side of the building using a gutter spout and a conveniently located skip for leverage. She kept going upward until she gained the roof and she crept to the front of the building to watch the door of the pub they’d just left.

She glanced briefly at Tristan, who was already next to her and took in his grin as she heard a muffled curse. She looked back out at the street with out checking on James and Alec. They could either keep up, or they couldn’t.

Devina trusted them enough to stay low and out of sight as they crossed the roof, as she waited, patiently for Eve to exit the pub. She started to signal them over her shoulder, but stopped and thought to give it a chance. Maybe they did know the system that she’d taught Tristan. James had spent enough time in Asia that he might know it.  
She signaled Tristan to keep an eye out and turned to where Alec and the James came over the edge onto the roof. She signaled them with both hands in the formal style, rather than the modified version the she and Tristan used.  
Neither James or Alec looked anything but confused, so she just shrugged and went with the more conventional, military signs to let them know the positions that she wanted them to take. She turned back without waiting to see if they complied. It wasn’t for strategic positioning so much that four people together were more noticeable than one or two should anyone be looking.

She saw Eve hurrying out the door across the street and smiled in satisfaction as she gave up after only looking up and down the street. She hailed a cab and got in the back, leaving the scene. Devina made a derisive sound.

“She was a terrible field agent, wasn’t she?” she asked her company, offhand, before turning to Tristan and asking him, “Is my address in my file?”

Tristan nods, “The building address, yes.”

“Alright, then, let’s see if that is where she is going,” she grins, not having done this for a long time. 

“You two,” she said to Alec and James, “if we loose you, meet us where you usually watch my place from, alright?” 

She didn’t wait for an answer as she took off, cutting quickly across the rooftop, managing to leap to the next and roll as she hit. She knew London very well and she could follow the cab from above fairly easily, she just didn’t have time to direct the men with her. She knew that Tristan would follow their usual protocol if they were separated.

She was soon able to determine that Eve was headed to her address. _Christ, she really is a terrible agent._ She breaks off her pursuit of the cab and heads for home, knowing that the three men should be there, already. She’d been aware of them falling off along the way.

}*{

“I can’t believe that she went in,” Devina says from behind James and Alec where they are watching her place. 

They both startle and turn toward her as she moves up in between them where they are perched, looking at her building. 

“Do you know where Q is?” Alec asks her quietly.

She nods, “Yes, he in my flat, waiting, monitoring.”

She pulls out her phone and sends a text to Tristan, letting him know they were all on-site. He was in her flat with the walls tripped, so she didn’t have to do anything to access the decoy with Eve inside. She thought briefly about trapping the woman and dismissed it. She’d get the confrontation out of the way.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she exclaims in a whisper as a light comes on in her decoy flat. “James, was she always this terrible? Or has she suffered a head wound since she was in the field?”

James had to muffle his snort of laughter with a hand before he answered her, “I only worked with her the one time and haven’t looked at her files. Considering how that worked out, I feel it is fair to say she was always terrible.”

She popped up and kissed him on the cheek before leaning over and doing the same to Alec where he was chuckling and standing up.

“Alright, come on,” she said, “you two can go in and watch with Q while I go get her.”

She led them down to her front door, resetting the walls on the way. They moved silently and would keep Eve from hearing the downstairs door open. She stepped up to the door and laid her hands on it, disengaging the lock. She opened the door for them and ushered them quickly inside. 

They started to look around curiously but she quickly shoved them far enough in that she could trip the walls again. 

“Ask Q to tell you how it work,” she whispered as she tripped the walls again and they swiftly shut between her and their startled expressions. 

She she turned and looked up the stairwell, allowing a feral smile to pull across her face.

Devina idly wondered if Eve would put up any kind of decent fight.

}*{

James looked around, a little dazed at the difference between Devina and Q the last time he’d seen them and today. He no longer had any idea what was really them. They had seemed so open and affectionate, today, with each other and with him and Alec. And the idea of all four of them together had been planted and he was caught off guard by how fiercely he wanted that.

And the way she’d ordered them about after they left the pub, damn. They’d just naturally fallen in with her and he was disappointed that he and Alec had lost her at all, much less before Q had. He had to admit, though, Q was far more fit than they’d ever have guessed and he seemed familiar with how Devina operated.

Now that she had tried to signal him in an unfamiliar way, he realized that he’d seen her and Q signal each other, often, in a way that was subtle and hard to pick up on. These two continued to surprise him and Alec and they were, frankly, amazingly turned on by these two people running circles around them. It was like nothing either of them had experienced.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by Alec elbowing him in the ribs and pointing to where Q was sitting at a breakfast bar with two laptops set up and video feed streaming in multiple windows. 

“Hurry up,” Q said to them, “or you’ll miss it.”

They hurried over and sat on stools to either side of Q, scanning the windows he had open. They could barely see Devina where she was going up the stairs.

“Does the camera quality need to be adjusted?” Alec asked.

Q smirked at him, “No, that’s about as clearly as she ever shows up on camera when she’s acting covertly. She’s hard to keep track of.”

Alec and James looked at each other in surprise before looking back and avidly watching the screens. Devina had gained the upper floor and was sliding into the upstairs flat. They watched her clear the rooms until she approached Eve in the master bedroom.

Suddenly, her figure was not murky on the screen. She strode into the room straight to a startled Eve who had been searching through a chest of drawers. She straightened and tried to pull a weapon but had no chance. Devina was to her in the space of a blink.

“Oh fuck,” Q breathed out as they watched the gun sail across the room. “This is could be bad.”

Devina had Eve backed up and bent awkwardly back over the chest of drawers, one hand on her throat, up high, just under her jaw. Eve’s hands were wrapped around Devina’s forearm, trying to ease the pressure.

“You pull a weapon on me in _my home?_ ” Devina spoke with a ferocious intensity. “What are you doing here, Eve?” 

She must have eased the pressure because Eve gasped in a breath and Devina started at her, face completely devoid of the emotion that had shown in her voice as she waited for an answer. When it didn’t come quickly enough, they saw the muscles of her forearm move under her skin as she tightened her grip, again.

“Sukoshi Yami,” Q said, his own face hard, “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

James looked between Q and the screen he was staring at, curiously. The name tickled the corridors of his mind, but he couldn’t quite place it. He would have to think on it. The words translated to “Little Darkness,” and as soon as he thought the words in English, he blanched.

Alec barely flicked a glance at Q when he spoke, he was too intently focused on what was happening on the screen.

“She’s ‘Little Darkness?’” James asked, incredulous.

Q flicked a glance at James before looking back at the screen. “Yes.”

 _How?_ , James thought. If half the things he’d heard were true, this was going to go incredibly tits up for Eve. On the screen, Eve was gasping for breath, again, as Devina still waited for an answer. 

“I’m waiting, Eve,” they heard Devina speak, again.

When nothing was forthcoming from Eve, Devina’s hand clamped down again and she didn’t let up until Eve’s hands fell from her forearm and she slumped against the chest of drawers. Devina’s grip eased and she stooped, throwing Eve over her shoulder. She turned and looked straight at the camera. 

“Shin’yu, open the basement,” was all she said before they saw her pull out her phone one-handed as she made her way out of the upstairs flat.

James and Alec stood, turning to where the wall was retracting and Devina strolled through and headed to where Q had scrambled ahead to the living room to flip the rug back open a small panel to reveal a keypad that he began to punch a long sequence of numbers into.

Devina barely spared them a glance as she walked to the dining room carrying Eve over her shoulder without effort and grabbed one of the heavy, ladder backed chairs. She carried both over to the now open hole in the floor and handed the chair off to Q who carried it down for her. She looked back at James and Alec, raising an eyebrow at them before turning and following Q into the basement.

James and Alec both shook themselves at the turn their evening had taken and walked over and down into the basement after Devina and Q.

By the time they had made it down the stairs, Devina was kneeling down in front of Eve who was being held up-right in the chair by Q. They watched as Devina found the center of a coil of black rope and began weaving it around Eve and the chair from where her feet were on the ground up. 

When she was done, Eve was immobile and perfectly upright in the chair with just her head hanging forward because she was still unconscious. As Devina checked the ropes, Eve’s breathing and heartbeat, James and Alec finally started to take in the room they were in. 

Eve, in the chair, was in the center of an arsenal. It was a large square room and the walls were covered in every kind of weapon that could be used by a single person. There were cabinets and drawers on the lower halves of the wall that they couldn’t see what was in them. In one corner there was what looked like a large, metal cross. 

“Devina,” James asked her, “what is that?”

She looked up and smiled, looked back down and finished checking Eve before she walked over to them.

“That was from a hit I had at an Anime convention,” she said, grinning, “I make a fantastic Wolfwood.”

Q chuckled at the blank look she received from the other men as she turned and gestured them ahead of her up the stairs. She flicked off the lights behind them and closed the door, putting the carpet back once they were all back in the living room. 

She motioned Alec and James to the chairs and couch in the room and for Q to follow her back toward the kitchen. James and Alec settled in, gathering themselves for business as the other two come back in with one of the laptops, four glasses and a bottle of amber liquid. Devina set the laptop on the coffee table in front of Q as he settled in and passed out the glasses before she unstopped the bottle and poured for everyone.

Alec and Tristan were on opposite sides of the couch and James in one of the armchairs. Devina settled into the armchair opposite James and downed half of the contents in her glass before she looked around at everyone.

Devina’s eye meet first James’ and then Alec’s gaze before she speaks in a clipped voice.

“Ask me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Trigun.  
> Feedback is welcome and encouraged


	17. Ancient History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec and James finally get some answers

They began firing questions at her and she answered them, crisply.

“Why are you allowing us to see this?” James asked.

“You have been cleared for full disclosure.”

“By whom?” this from Alec.

“Mycroft Holmes.”

“Who is that?” James, again.

“The closest thing I have to a boss.”

“M isn’t your boss?” curiosity colored Alec’s tone.

“M was my boss, Mallory is not.”

“Why do you phrase it that way?” Alec asked.

This question made her pause, it was not such a simple answer. She looked over at Tristan and he smiled at her softly. 

“I know how hard this is for you, but it can only help improve things,” he reminded her, softly. “And this is not how it is going to get done. Tell them, shin’yu.”

She took a deep breath and dropped her head back for a moment before blowing it out and looking up at James and Alec who were showing a remarkable amount of patience. She downed the rest of her drink and poured herself another before she started talking again.

“Do you know who I am?” she asked.

Alec indicated that James answer the question and so he did.

“We know that you are Olivia Mansfield’s granddaughter. We have the basic details of your history with kidnapping and only know what we have learned of you since we met you, which is that you are incredibly smart, very talented, and you can run circles around us. We like you.

“We suspect that you are the MI6 assassin, called 000. We have been unable to put anything conclusive together, but tonight had lent more substance to this theory than anything else,” James summarized.

She blinked a couple of times at the flattery before she could formulate and answer. She smiled at them, genuine but small before she continued her explanation.

“There isn’t actually a provision for an agent 000 at MI6 or any intelligence organization. It is just what people decided to address the rumor as. They needed a name, something simple and so that is what they called me. This is the first time that I have officially worked for MI6, and even now, my only job is senior technician in the Quartermaster Branch.

“I have been an assassin for Queen and Country since I was twenty-two,” she said, looking between the both of them. “I am not a spy. I only do information gathering and infiltration in relation to getting close to and completing a kill.

“Now, one of the things that has always been understood about me is that I destroy any compromise to my cover. It was always expected of me, and Q has been the _only_ exception to this rule, and that happened when I was seventeen and we were still at MIT. Tanner found out when M did, and M learned what I was when I was fourteen.”

She held up her hand to stave off their questions at the last statement.

“Now, I have a question that you need to answer for me, James,” she said, looking directly at him. “Why did you start coming to my cafe?”

He considered her question for a moment before answering with what she expected to hear.

“Your cafe was recommended to me,” he told her.

The corners of her mouth quirked up and she asked, “By Eve Moneypenny?”

He nodded at her, “Yes, that’s correct. She told me she’d been to a great coffee shop that was close to my place. I kept going, at first,” he clarified, “because it really was convenient to my flat and you have great coffee in there.”

She smirked at him, accepting the praise before saying, “Eve has never been in my cafe. Other than when Q helped me set up the security, you two are the only MI6 employees who have ever been in.”

Alec’s eyebrows went up and James sat back, blowing out a breath as they began to consider the implications.

“You two were actually what prompted me to contact MI6, again. Q and I had managed to keep in touch, marginally, waiting for the correct opportunity, but since Olivia died, I hadn’t been called into MI6. I assumed that Mallory didn’t know about me.”

At that, Tristan looked up and joined in the conversation. “He knew about you. M had left personal notes, documenting some of your work for MI6 and the necessity of maintaining your cover. She did not leave anything telling who you were to her. That, he got from Tanner.”

Devina blinked at him, her eyes starting to simmer and Tristan noticed and was quick to derail her train of thinking.

“No, Shin’yu, no. It was legitimate,” he spoke quickly, sincerely. “Tanner was under the impression that you were wanted back for legitimate reasons and what he told Mallory was what Mallory would have needed to know about any employee. Basic background. Unfortunately, your background is rather colorful.

“He doesn’t know about Mitsuo, or your career before you were with MI6 at twenty-two. Tanner would never compromise your freedom that way.”

Alec spoke up then, “How could that compromise your freedom?”

Devina had begun to relax at Tristan’s explanation and she fell back into the couch, looking at Tristan in reproach before answering.

“Well,” she trailed off, not really wanting to share.

“James knows, Sukoshi Yami,” Tristan said to her, “I said the name earlier and he recognized it.”

Her gaze automatically snapped to James, cold and calculating, evaluating him as a threat. Her smile was demonic as she noted the small shiver that he couldn’t completely repress with that particular gaze on him. She knew, she’d been told, that it was void of humanity.

“You know, do you?” she asked him quietly.

He nodded at her slowly, cautiously, while Tristan made an exasperated noise.

“Devina!” he said sharply, bringing her questioning eyes to him, “Stop intimidating James.” 

She rolled her eyes at him and grinned, unrepentant, before turning back to the men in her living room.  
She shrugged at them, “If he knew about my career before MI6, I’d probably be executed as a danger to, well, everyone.”

That statement made James bark out a laugh before he asked her, “Have you ever failed on a job?”

“On a job, no. I have failed many times, though,” she replied.

Both James and Alec looked ready to bombard her with questions, again and she held her hands up.

“Wait, wait. Let me just tell you from the beginning. I do remember, you know? I just-no one knows, alright? I have very purposefully _never_ told anyone these things. Well, aside from him,” she said, pointing to Tristan. “And Mitsuo really did try to prevent that, didn’t he?”

Tristan shuddered, going pale. “Yes, he really did. Thankfully, he is more emotionally attached to you than he cares to admit.”

She smiled at him fondly before turning back to the 00s in her living room and telling them her history, beginning with her first kidnapping at the age of five. She didn’t tell them the more personal things, such as how she hadn’t spoken for a year. 

She spoke about Mitsuo for the first time since he’d left her eleven years prior. She told them of how he had taken her under his wing and formalized her training. How he had taught her to defend herself and given her the best chance at surviving in the world she’d had an early introduction to.

She told them how he’d included the agents in her training so that she would know the more conventional methods of defense and attack, so as not to rely on any one way of fighting. She told them about how he’d set people on her so that she could learn to evade and escape, how many times he’d retrieved her before she’d gained any skill. She confirmed her kills where her file had been uncertain.

She told them about the day she’d met M in a professional capacity in an interrogation room at NSY when she was fourteen. How M had then taken an interest in her training and began to receive reports on her progress. She told them she was fairly certain that her Shihan hadn’t given M even half of the truth of what he taught her and how he went about it.

She talked about going to the States to attend university and how Mitsuo had gone with her. How he’d taken her all over the United States to learn and begin her career as an assassin. She talked about how they took payment but didn’t work for money. How Mituso continued to test her and began to send her on jobs alone. 

She didn’t talk about how painful adolescence had been for her, personally. She didn’t talk about how difficult it had been to accept her most basic differences from the people around her. About how upon embracing those differences her life improved drastically. She didn’t talk about how meeting Tristan had changed everything and nothing; he’d tethered her to life and living. How he’d become her ability to love, laugh and enjoy the world. She wasn’t sure that even he knew that part.

She didn’t address her youthful promiscuity, her brief acquaintance with alcoholism or her inability to connect with people. She didn’t talk about how she was better with technology than people, unless she was manipulating them. She didn’t tell them about how easily she had killed the first time and hadn’t felt any emotion other than satisfaction at defeating an enemy.

She did mention the inclusion of the boy who became Q into her life. How Mitsuo had taken him in hand, in a very different manner, and taught him how to be of help to Devina when she had jobs. About how they had began grooming him for MI6 without really acknowledging that they were doing it. About how well they all worked together and made a formidable team.

She skimmed over the kidnapping when she was eighteen. It had happened, she had come home. She wasn’t even sure they needed to know that much.

She spoke of her return to London. How she had become resigned to the outcome. About how that last attempt had changed the whole course of what she had thought her life was going to be. She admit to them that she’d hoped to be a 00 but accepted that MI6 could not grind to a halt every time something happened to her; she had to disappear.

She then spoke of Mycroft Holmes and why she had come to his attention. She took a leaf from Sherlock (whom she had met) and just described him as _the_ British Government. She told them about his relationship with M and how her relationship with him had progressed. She talked about how he had often sent her jobs through M and how he would love for her to work for him, directly, but that he understood her attachment to MI6.

Right about the time she’d reached that point in her recitation, Tristan chimed in.

“Moneypenny is awake,” he told her, looking up from the laptop in front of him.

Devina blinked the people in the room back into focus. She’d been talking, detached and a bit absent from the room around her. She looked at James and Alec, who looked a little overwhelmed with the huge influx of information they’d just been given. She smiled at them a little bit before she addressed Tristan.

“How long?” she asked him.

“Just now,” he said, looking back at the monitor. 

“Alright, she can stay like that a bit longer,” Devina decided. “We need to finish up this explanation, anyway.”

Alec perked up at that, “There’s more?”

James rolled his eyes at him, “Yes, we still don’t know what is going on _now_.”

“Right,” Alec said, shaking his head a little before looking at Devina, “Why did you tie Moneypenny up in your basement?”

Devina snorted at him, “Because I have questions for her. If I didn’t, I would have just killed her for being an idiot.”

When Alec and James both just blinked at her for that, Tristan laughed at them.

“Because you haven’t done that before?” Tristan asked her.

“Well,” she agreed, “but not for _just_ being an idiot.”

“Anyway,” she said, waving off Tristan’s continued laughter as she topped of everyone’s glass, “on to current events.”

She quickly summarized the conclusions that she had come to about Mallory wanting James and Alec dead as well as how he planned to use her to do it. She did tell them _why_ she thought so and what had prompt her to take her concerns to Mycroft.

She was a killer, but she wasn’t an indiscriminate one.

“So,” she drawled out, slowly, “I don’t really want someone with such poor judgment in charge of MI6. Mycroft asked me for a week before I take action to see if he can find any motivations or if he really is too stupid for the job,” she concluded.

“As for Eve Moneypenny,” she said, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees, glass dangling from one hand and chin propped in the other, “I wasn’t sure if she was in this with Mallory or if she’s just terrible at her job. Now that she’s made this particular move, I do intend to find out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged!


	18. Jealousy makes you daft.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve's a moron, James and Alec are confused, Tristan and Devina are amused.

Devina made sure that she clattered down the stairs, whistling cheerfully before stopping at the bottom and turning on the lights. She grinned at Eve as she blinked, adjusting to the lights.

“Good evening, dove,” she said, sauntering over toward where Eve was in the chair, “is your night going as planned?” she asked, settling down into a half-lotus on the floor in front of Eve.

Eve’s expression was neutral as she looked at Devina, “Not as such, no,” she finally replies.

Devina chuckled at her and sad, “It is my firm belief that you were a terrible field agent.”

Devina’s chuckle turned to outright laughter at the look that passed over Eve’s face when she processed Devina’s words. 

“See? Terrible. I know that you wanted to be found here, dove, but I don’t think this was what you expected to happen when I got in and there was someone in my home, yeah?”

She continued to laugh as the expression on Eve’s face turned sour, “Oh, dove, you didn’t read my file, did you?” at this point, she was gasping for breath. “Why would you be so unprepared?” she trailed off, almost to herself, “Just terrible.”

With her eyes sparkling, she asked Eve, “What were you hoping to accomplish, dove?”

“Would you stop fucking calling me that?” Eve spat out, a flush on her face. “Why would I have read your file? You’re a tech.”

Devina smirked at her, “Yes, _dove_ , I am a tech. That’s my job. But why are you looking through my home?”

“Honestly, I was hoping to find more about your relationship to Q,” Eve says boldly.

“Ah, and why were you wanting me to find you here?” Devina’s eyes are till shining with humor, “Did you want to scare me?”.

“A little.”

“Why, dove? What did you want to ask me?” Devina asked, gently, “What do you want to know?”

Eve looks at her, carefully trying to read her expression and body language. Devina keeps it open and calm. 

“I see,” Devina said.

“You see what?” Eve asked, cautiously.

“I make you insane. You aren’t looking for why I am close to Q; everyone already knows. You are jealous and looking for dirt,” Devina pronounced, gleefully.

Eve looks startled and Devina can see that it is genuine. “Wh-,” she brakes off before shaking her head, “How do you _know_ that?”

“That, dove, is not something I am going to tell you,” Devina said as she raised her right hand in front of her and opened her fist.

Eve was caught completely off guard, and breathed in, startled, when Devina blew a powder straight into her face.

}*{

“What did she just blow in her face?” James asked.

“Mild hallucinogen that will make the last couple hours feel like a dream,” Q responded without looking up from video feed he was watching with Alec and James.

“There really is shit like that?” Alec asked, excited. “That actually works?”

Q chuckled, “Oh, yes. Certainly what Devi’s got works. Quite well, in fact.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, Alec.” Q said, finally turning to look at Alec, amused, “But, if you want to be sure, why don’t you ask her?”

Alec studied Q’s face for a moment before he chuckled and said, “No, thank you. I am pretty sure she would use it on me.”

They turned back to the camera feed and James muttered, “I wonder what she’s saying,” as they watched Devina untie Eve, who looked completely dazed, while speaking to her, quietly.

“We will ask her,” Q said. “That stuff is amazing, you can implant suggestions and everything.”

They all three turn as they see Devina leading Eve out of the basement and turn to watch them emerge from floor. Eve is totally silent with her face slack.

“Q, call a taxi and pull up her address for me,” Devina asks him as she settles Eve into one of the chairs. Eve’s eyes are tracking something the rest of them can’t see. “We will be quiet until she’s on her way.”

James and Alec just stare at Eve, faces showing curiosity as Devina walks into the kitchen and comes back with a glass of water. She smiles at Eve and strokes her hair back, bringing the glass to her lips for her to drink.

“Come on, dove, you need to stay hydrated,” she said fondly at Eve as she started to drink, “you have to work in the morning and I don’t want you sick.”

When the glass was empty, she set it on the counter and leaned forward to whisper in her ear some more. The men couldn’t hear the words, just her voice. It kept on until Q snapped his fingers lightly and she canted her eyes in his direction. He nodded at the door and she smiled, her words finally trailing off.

She grinned and guided Eve up and out the door. Q switched the feeds and they watched her put Eve into a cab, speak to the driver and smacked the roof before she turned and re-entered the flat. 

She flopped in the chair the Eve had vacate and heaved a sigh, gesturing for the bottle of liquor that they’d all been sharing.

“Poor girl. She has no idea what she’s trying to get involved with,” she said to the room at large. “But, she won’t be a problem, anymore.”

Q scoots forward to the edge of the couch and pressed his hands to his knees and looked like he was just dying to get the good gossip, “So,” he draws it out, anticipatory, “what are you having her do?”

She hummed a bit before speaking, “I think Miss Moneypenny’s in love.”

“With whom?”

“Harold,” she said with a feral grin.

James asked, “Harold?” while Alec asked with disbelief, “You can do that?” and Q broke into peals of laughter.

She rolled her eyes, “No, Alec, I can’t do that, but she will be compelled to pay him quite a bit of attention over the next days,” she explained. “If she plays it like she plays everything else, it will wear off long before she can convince him to swing the other way.”

At the same time, Q was telling James, “Harold is one of the newer R&D hires. He is extremely gay. Full homo, that one, comfortable with it and confident. It’s brilliant, really.”

“And what about her being here?” came from James.

“Oh, she thinks she got drugged at the pub but managed to realize it and get home before anything happened. She’ll only think it wasn’t roofies if she’s ever actually been roofied,” she explained.

James raised an eyebrow at her in question.

Her only response was to raise her own back at him.

}*{

“So, did you figure out what her purpose was?” Alec asked her.

“I did,” Devina said, mildly.

Alec rolled his eyes as James chuckled, “You truly should have been a spy. It’s like pulling teeth to get information from you.”

Tristan chuckled as well, as he set the laptop aside and put his feet up on the coffee table, “That is very true, but she will tell us, I am sure.”

Devina made a show of being completely put upon as she put her own feet up on the low table. 

“Well, I would guess that none of you have much experience with women being jealous _of_ you rather than over you, yes?” she said to them.

James said, “What does that have to do with it?” the same time that Tristan huffed out, “Seriously? You still get this kind of bullshit?” 

Alec just nodded, waiting for her to go on while James looked an inquiry at Tristan.

Tristan rolled his eyes at James and pointed his chin at Devina, indicating that what she had to say was more important.

Devina hummed for a moment before explaining, “People actually _like_ me. Between that and having the attention of three men that she is intensely interested in, who don’t give her the time of day, she intensely dislikes me.”

Alec snorted a laugh and James blushed, very slightly while Tristan continued to looked irritated.

“Q has seen some of the things women, who didn’t like me for the same reasons, have done in the past. Truly, it is ridiculous. Completely a result of a particular type of insecurity.” She waved it off, continuing, “However, this was just reckless. Not even looking at my file before coming to try and intimidate me,” she made a derisive sound before continuing. “I work for fucking q-branch. Not only do we make killers more efficient, we kill people all the time.”

Her matter of fact statement had quite the effect on the men in the room. Tristan was baring his teeth in a feral smile and James and Alec were staring at them with open disbelief between the two of them.

“Oh, come on,” she said draping herself more comfortably across her chair and rolling her eyes. “Don’t tell me that you never considered what your handlers actually _do_. When we set off remote detonations, activate fire systems and lock people behind doors for you? Do you think that we aren’t aware of what happens to those people because of US?”

She and Tristan shared a look before he went on in her stead, “Our psychological evaluations are different, because we are detached from our kills, but the q-branch body count far exceeds that of the 00 division, as a whole.”

Alec and James looked discomfited at the admission.

“They don’t know,” Devina said to Tristan, shaking her head.

“To be fair, until you arrived, I handled _those_ things, alone,” Tristan said, raising a brow at her, “even before I was Q.”

“True enough,” she nodded her agreement. “It’s a big part of what you were brought in for. M liked that you already knew how to kill in helpful ways.”

Tristan hummed his agreement as they seemed continue to speak without consideration for the other two men in the room. This conversations was purely for their benefit, though. They had to know what they were getting into. Devina and Tristan might not look like it, but they were paying close attention to the others in the room. James and Alec were looking between them as they spoke, expressions slowly slipping into a careful neutral look that all covert operatives were brilliant at.

“You taught me well,” Tristan said to her, smiling.

She laughed, light, “Not just me, but you took to it well, darling. I knew you had it in you, and you accepted it when you let me stay, didn’t you?”

“As soon as I was no longer in shock, certainly,” he laughed in return.

James chose that moment to speak up, “I think I would like to hear the story to that.”

Devina’s eyes were shined with humor, “You think?”

Alec smiled at them both, “I know that I would.”

Devina and Tristan shared a long look that seemed to share many things before Devina smiled and gestured for Tristan to speak his side of events. They were pleased, James and Alec seemed receptive to who they really were. If they were going to do this, really do it, neither of them would hide.

“Well,” Tristan began, “it was the fucking Smoots…”

James and Alec listened, first, to the story about how Devina killed seven men on the Harvard Bridge in Boston and when they were able to get over how young the two had been when that happen, were able to take amusement in the stories the two shared about some of the work they had done in America.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	19. Morning chatter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James and Alec are inquisitive.   
> Devina decides to face some truth.  
> Tristan is glowing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not entirely happy with this chapter, but I am rarely happy with how deep conversations go, in real life, either. It's too hard to express emotional thought into understandable conversation.

James took a moment to process the position his body was in and connect it to memories of the night before he blinked his eyes open where he was kicked back in Devina’s armchair. He looked around and noticed that he was the first of them to wake. He smiled a bit, as he took in the other three sprawled out in the living room.

Devina was still in the chair opposite him, practically turned upside down, soundly asleep. Tristan and Alec were both on the couch, backs resting against opposite arms of the couch and legs tangled together. 

He stood and stretched before making his way to the kitchen to see about making some coffee. He poked around a bit, located the necessary items for coffee and got the kettle going for any of them who might like tea. When he got in the fridge and started looking for possible breakfast options, he heard a distressed noise coming from the living room. He raised his head, waiting and heard it again. 

He shut the door and made his way back to the living room in time to see Q with a panicked look on his face, arm stretched out to Alec and Alec looking like he was about to shake Devina awake from what seemed to be a distressing dream.

“No! Alec don’t touch her!,” Q shouted and Alec snatched his hand back so quickly that he overbalanced and fell to the floor. 

James had to give it to her, she moved fast even when she’d just been so rudely awakened. Her eyes had snapped open at the first word out of Q’s mouth and she had pulled a long-ass, fucking knife from somewhere while she rolled off the chair and onto the floor before she stilled. When she had stopped moving she was in an offensive crouch, looking at Alec on the floor and her knife was at his throat. Alec had frozen where he was, eyes wide on her face.

Her expression remained neutral as she pressed the blade against Alec as her eyes flickered around the room, taking in everyone’s position. Her eyes settled back on Alec.

“Tris,” was all she said.

“Shit,” Q breathed out quietly before he spoke in a louder voice, “I’m fine, Devina. I shouted because you were dreaming and he was going to wake you, physically.”

She made a disgruntled noise and stood, the knife disappearing somewhere around her knee. She kept her eyes on Alec.

“Thank you,” she said with a faint smile at him and held out a hand to help him up. “But it’s best if you don’t touch me when I dream until I am used to your presence while I sleep. Might be awhile.”

Alec accepted her hand, cautiously and allowed her to help him up. He stilled again as her left hand came up toward his face and he relaxed when she only briefly touched his jaw and stroked his cheekbone with her thumb. She released him and moved along the couch and stroked her fingers thought Q’s hair as she passed. 

“Good morning, James,” she said, smiling, as she approached him and passed him by on way through to the kitchen. 

James’ gaze trailed after her before he looked back at the other two in the room with him, eyebrow raised.

“Does that happen often?” James asked.

Q looked at him, appraisingly, and answered, “No. Mitsuo used to be the only one who could wake her when she dreamed, because he could defend himself from her,” he sighed, heavily and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Now, me, I can touch her at anytime. She is always completely aware of me and my proximity to her.”

“Fuck,” Alec said ruefully, “I know better than to wake violent people from dreams that way.” He carded his hands through his hair and sighed.

“Oi!” came from the kitchen, “come and get your caffeine!”

The three men looked at each other and went to get their morning drinks. As they all filed in, Devina was in the fridge pulling out various food stuff.

“Anyone else starving?” she asked, looking at them all and smiling brightly.

}*{

Alec was mulling over Devina’s words as they all ate a delicious, full breakfast. God, she could cook. Every time one of them had tried to help they had been shooed away. He continued to be fascinated by everything she did. 

He was thankful that she hadn’t actually cut him. He knew better than to wake violent people from violent dreams. He even knew where Q was coming from. He and James could wake each other, but it had taken years for them them to get to that point.

He hadn’t woken her, though. Q had. And it amazed him that her first priority, under the circumstances, had been to make sure that Q was safe. On that note…

“Tris?” he asked, catching Devina’s eye.

She just hummed around the mouthful of food she was chewing before sitting back and swallowing.

“S’up to him,” she said, her eyes glinting. “It’s not my call, though I do think it fair.”

Alec smiled as he watched her move slightly to absorb the blow from Q’s fist connecting with her shoulder. She laughed and turned to Q.

“Don’t be an asshole,” she told him and stuck her tongue out at him.

Q sighed and scooped another bite of food into his mouth and looked at Alec and James, considering until he swallowed the bite.

“My name,” he shrugged at them. “It’s Tristan.”

Devina cleared her throat and it was Q’s turn to stick his tongue out at her.

“Tristan King,” he clarified.

Alec just grinned, looked at James who was also grinning and started to laugh when Devina filled the room with, “Thank fuck, I was getting damn tired of calling you ‘Q’ all the fucking time.”

James looked startled and Alec just laughed harder as Tristan smiled at her, a totally goofy-gone smile. Alec already knew that she was completely foul-mouthed on many occasions.

He was still curious, though, about these two. Their relationship was a bit of a mystery. _Well_ , he thought, _in for a penny…_

“May I ask a personal question?,” he asked as everyone calmed down and went back to finish their meals.

Devina winked at him, “You may,” she said as Tristan nodded.

“What’s the relationship between you two?” he asked bluntly.

James agreed, “Excellent question, love to hear about that.”

Devina’s eyes turned serious and Tristan’s closed for just longer than a blink before his gaze turned back to the men sitting opposite him and Devina. Devina tipped her head back, slightly, in what could be a gesture of surrender before she stood and moved behind Tristan and rested her hands on his shoulders. She leaned down and said something in his ear before she straightened and strode out of the room.

Tristan reaches out for James as he starts to stand to follow her and James stilled at the negative shake of Tristan’s head. 

“Don’t.” He said, kindly. “It’s not a negative reaction to the question. She just-” he stopped as James eased back down into his chair.

“Should I not have asked?” Alec wondered out loud.

“No,” Devina said as she walked back into the room, “asking is fine. I just really hate talking about this particular aspect of myself. Let’s get more caffeine and we’ll talk outside. This requires lots of smoking,” she smiled at them and went to the kitchen and started a fresh pot of coffee.

}*{

While the coffee was brewing, she and Tristan started to clean up from making breakfast. They both continued to shoo James and Alec away when they tried to help. The two men ended up leaned against the opposite side of the breakfast bar, idly chatting while Devina and Tristan cleaned the kitchen. They finished about the same time the coffee did. 

Devina pulled a thermos out from somewhere and filled it with the coffee and gestured for them to grab their cups and follow her. They followed her out the front door and around to the back of the building. 

She unlatched a gate in the tall fence around her small courtyard and let them into a small, grassy area that had a little, covered patio with four chairs around a small table with an ashtray on it. It was a pretty space with some low-water plants around the edges. 

“Have a seat,” Devina said, smiling as she walked around the table to what was obviously her favorite seat. She settled in, along with everyone else, setting her coffee cup down and pulling a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket with a lighter and placing them on the table.

“Alright,” she began, opening her pack and tossing it to Alec after she took out a cigarette, “Tristan, did you want to field that particular question, or should I? You know what my answer is going to be.”

And it was true, he did know. She would just say that she loved him. Was in love with him and always had been. They had never talked about what they were to each other beyond that; she had never needed to. She didn’t much see the point of the labels that were about to get thrown around, but she supposed they needed something if people were going to ask.

“Sure, sure,” Tristan smiled, “I got it.”

All four of them got settled with topped off coffee and cigarettes for the smokers before Tristan started to explain. Tristan looked at Devina and grinned. She rolled her eyes, knowing that he was pleased to be able to define their relationship, to finally be able to speak about the commitment they'd recently made to each other.

“So,” Tristan began, “conventional explanation. We are in an open relationship.”

“So it is sexual?” Alec asked, seeming relieved.

“That question is not as easily answered,” Tristan said carefully.

James’ eyebrows went up and Alec’s lowered in a frown. Devina just sat back and watched with a smile on her face. They’d already made the decision to be open with these men, but how they reacted would definitely factor into how they went forward.

“Devina, when available, is with very involved in my partner selection, and she does all my aftercare,” Tristan stated.

“BDSM?” James asked, settling back in his chair.

Devina’s smile turned feral and Tristan just laughed, “No, that’s not what I meant. She goes out with me when I pick someone up, and I go home to her and she cleans me up or whatever else I need. There have been other things, but that’s generally what we get up to, sexually.”

“And what about you,” James asked as he looked at Devina, “what do you do for sex?”

She shrugged, “I masturbate a lot.”

Alec choked on the the sip of coffee he’d just taken and James laughed. He laughed until he saw Tristan reach out and touch her shoulder and she turned flipped one of their silent signals at him. 

“Wait, what was that?” Alec demanded.

Devina raised an eyebrow, “I was just telling him that I am alright with this topic.”

She leaned forward and stubbed her cigarette out in the ashtray before pulling another out of the pack and lighting it.

Alec looked at her for a minute before he asked, “You don’t have sex?”

“Not for years, no,” she told him, smiling.

“So you _have_ had sex?” James asked her.

She chuckled a bit before answering, “I have. Lots of sex. Tons of sex. Some of it quite good and some of it quite bad.” She grinned at them, more a baring of teeth, really. 

“What changed?” Alec seemed almost desperate as he asked.

She looked away as she marshaled her thoughts and she heard Tristan move his chair closer to her. She didn’t realize that she had tensed so much until Tristan draped himself on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her.

She visibly relaxed and turned to kiss the top of his head where it rested on her shoulder. “I’m ok, Tris. I am,” she said into his hair. “I just haven’t thought about it in a long time.”

Tristan stayed leaning against her when she turned back to James and Alec, who looked a little apprehensive at her reaction to the question.

“Just before Tristan and I met, I figured out that I was pretty much asexual. My physiology is fine, all parts in working order. I can, and did, have, and even enjoy, sex. I just didn’t particularly want to,” she explained. “Tristan was under the age of consent, anyway, so I pushed it aside, regardless.

“Then,” she continued, reaching up to hold on to Tristan’s arm where it wrapped around her, “I was taken when I was eighteen.” She blew out a breath before taking a deep drag of her cigarette. “I will be the first to admit that I was never the same. It was a long time before I could even let Tristan do more than hold onto my hand.”

She grimaced a little bit, starting to get stuck in her head. She needed an out, badly, at the moment. 

“Gentlemen,” she said, formally, “you will have to excuse me.” She kissed the top of Tristan’s head again as he released her. “I am going to go hit something, a lot.” She stood and made eye contact with the three men in turn. “Stay as long as you’d like, make yourselves at home.”

All three of them watched her walk away.

}*{

James frowned as he watched Devina leave the courtyard. He looked over at Alec, who was looking after her, still apprehensive. That he understood. She had plenty of reasons for staying as far away from people as possible. She had been detached when he met her, but it had seemed effortless, the way she’d been getting closer to them. 

He saw, now, that it wasn’t.

What James didn’t understand was the way that Tristan was sitting up in his chair, looking like someone had just handed him the world. He was beyond smiling, nearly vibrating in his chair.

“Tristan?” 

Tristan looked at him and his smile didn’t diminish, “She’s going to work it out.”

“Pardon?” Alec asked.

Tristan just continued to grin, “That is the most she has ever said about it. She sees, now, that she’s let it take things from her,” he explained. “I’ve seen her in the field, she enjoys sex. No one has sex like that who doesn't, but it has been since she came back that she's had sex out of the field. Wait, that's not quite correct," he paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, "She isn't asexual. Demisexual, almost certainly. She just hasn't been willing to take the risk in her personal life. She's used to denying the feeling for me, but you two shook her up."

“Just like that?” James asked.

“Yes,” Tristan said, “Just like that. Once she sees, she conquers. Oh, thank fuck,” he said, shoulders slumping and sliding halfway down in his chair, “I might actually get to have sex with my partner.” He looked at them, intently as he sat forward, “and so might you.”

Neither James nor Alec were about to let that pass without comment. So they didn’t. They spent the rest of the morning with Tristan, learning about him and Devina from Tristan’s perspective. It was enlightening, entertaining, heart-breaking and thought provoking.

All in all, not a terrible start to the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	20. Reclamation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The much needed breakdown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gratuitous John Watson. Because I <3 him.

Devina was gasping for breath, sweat pouring off of her, with her arms around the canvas heavy bag for balance while she slid down to the floor. She had spent the last three hours working out and hand ended it with beating the hell out of the bag. There had been little finesse to it, at the end, she’d just kept hitting and kicking the bag until she couldn’t stand any longer.

How could she have missed it?

How could she have done this to Tristan?

How could she have done this to _herself_?

At the thought she broke into sobs. Full on, body wrecking sobs. She curled into a ball and just cried. She couldn’t even remember ever crying, much less flat breaking down and bawling her head off. 

And so she cried. For all of it. Everything that had happened to her; the beatings, the rapes, the fear of being grabbed at any time. The loss of her family, the absence of her Shihan, her grandmother. The years she had missed with Tristan and what they could have been before now.

She had no idea how long she was there on the floor, but had quieted and was just lying on the mat in the mess of sweat, snot and tears when she heard the door to her gym above the cafe open. She didn’t move more than she needed to put her hand on the one knife she always had close. She stopped the motion as a voice floated through the room toward her.

“Devi?” 

_God dammit_ , she thought, lips twitching briefly into a slight smile, _should have known I didn’t hide a damn thing from him. How the fuck did I get so god damn lucky?_ Of course Tristan had sent her the one person that they both liked and trusted outside of MI6. The one person that she’d ever been interested in while Tristan was next to her.

She tried to talk and had to clear her throat before she managed to choke out a response.

“Yeah, John. Over here,” she said as she rolled onto her back with her knees bent and feet flat on the floor. She sighed, heavily, no longer having the energy or desire to fight this particular fight, and waited for him to come take care of her.

}*{

John Watson caught a look at the state she was in and cursed creatively under his breath as he made his way over to the dorm fridge on one of the walls. She allowed him free reign of the gym whether she was here or not, so he knew his way around.

He pulled out two bottles of water he found and grabbed one of the towels that she kept handy. He walked around to where she was on her back on the floor and settled at her head with his legs crossed in front of him. He put the things in his hands aside and wasn’t overly gentle when he slid his hands under her shoulders and pulled her upper body into his lap. It didn’t assuage his worry, at all, that she neither resisted or helped him and just let him move her. 

When he had her shoulders propped up high on his thighs and her head was rolled back against his stomach, he opened one of the bottles of water and held it for her to drink. Once she had about half the bottle down he poured some of what was left on the towel and started to clean up her face and neck. He smiled as he heard her sigh and some of the residual tension left her shoulders.

He set the towel aside and gave her some more water. After she made a small noise of protest, he put the almost empty bottle aside again and rested one hand over her sternum and stroked his thumb over her clavicle and started to card the fingers of his other hand through her hair, smoothing it back off of her forehead. 

They sat like that for quite some time. He had been curious when Tristan had called and told him that Devina needed a workout partner, today. They did work out together, sometimes, but they always set it up themselves, never through their friends. He was even more curious, now. Why wasn’t Tristan here? There couldn’t be a rift between them, the two were closer than he and Sherlock were. He couldn’t begin to imagine what had happened to leave her in this state, much less why Tristan wanted him to take care of her.

He’d met Devina long before he’d met Tristan. When he’d met her, he thought that there had been a spark between them, but when she’d not done more then ever flirt in a friendly manner, he’d set it aside and just enjoyed being her friend. He liked being close to her in any way that he could. When he had met Tristan, he thought he’d understood. 

She had laughed in Sherlock’s face when he’d told her that Tristan had multiple partners that weren’t her. She had laughed harder when Sherlock glared at Tristan like it was his fault that they were honest with one another. He remembered what she said, too. “Sherlock, don’t be jealous that I have what you won’t admit you want.” Sherlock never would say what she was talking about.

John hadn’t realized that his hand had stopped moving until Devina pushed up into the hand resting on her head. He smiled at her, a little stunned that she was allowing touch, at all, much less asking for more. She was one of the most physically standoffish people he’d ever met.

“Devina,” he said her name quietly, “what happened?”

He lifted his hands and sat back a little bit as she shifted. She rolled onto her right side and shifted down so that her head was supported by his left thigh. His eyes widened and just stared at her when she draped her left arm over his other leg and pulled her legs up so that she was curled around him. He blinked a couple times and swallowed hard before he very carefully settled his left hand lightly on the back of her head and stroked his right hand down her arm to cup her elbow as she started to speak.

“I don’t remember the last time I cried, you know?” she started off, her voice raspy, “Over any of it. The kidnappings, the attempts, the people that hurt me, the people I killed. I never even cried for my grandmother.” 

She breathed deeply for a moment and he just softly ran his fingertips through the hair on the back of her head. She pushed back into it a little before she relaxed back down. He was definitely in uncharted territory. He’d just gained more concrete information about her than he had in maybe the whole time he’d known her.

“I got asked today about sex. About if I’d had it, why I stopped. What had changed, yeah? I had to remember, and I can’t believe that I didn’t realize the effect it had had on me. I, just,” she paused and tensed up again, “by the time I was any kind of recovered, I had convinced myself that sex wasn’t anything I had ever wanted to begin with. It had become a habit to shove the desire away and it just became how I was. I haven’t had sex unless it’s been in the field since I was seventeen.”

John dug his fingers into the muscles at the base of her skull and she shuddered out a sigh as she went almost boneless. He very carefully locked down his own reactions to what she was saying. “Do you want to tell me?”

“Not really,” she said, “but I will. I should tell someone. Tristan doesn’t even know what happened, and he was one of the people looking for me.”

That made him pause, again, and in that moment, she tilted her face up to him and he saw that her eyes were clouded in a way that he’d never suspected that they could be. His hand stroked back up her arm to cradle her jaw while his thumb stroked under her eye. He could admit to himself that he was reveling in the fact that she was letting him touch her so much, but she truly seemed to need it. 

“You know that you don’t have to tell me anything, Devi,” he told her.

“I know,” she said and relaxed her head back down. He moved his hand back down to her elbow and waited for what she was going to do next, or if they were going to stay as they were for the time being. 

“I was taken when I was eighteen,” she started. “It was the last time anyone was able to successfully do so. They took me from the MIT campus and they had me for more than ten days before they slipped up enough for me to get away.”

She talked to him for a long time. He had known how well she could tell a story, but this story was terrible to hear. How she’d come out of it sane, he didn’t know. That she came out of it strong and in control of herself and her life seemed impossible, but he supposed that being able to escape and kill your tormentors went a long way to keeping your self-respect in tact. 

He was relieved that he could hear no shame in her voice as she told him about what had been done to her. She knew, down to her bones, that people were responsible for their own actions. She owned that she’d killed the three people who were on-site when she’d escaped. She told him how she had not hunted the others down, but had taken the opportunity to kill them when they were unraveling Silva’s network. Who that was, he was fairly certain he didn’t want to know.

By the time she had finished telling him about her escape and how she’d made her way back to Boston, they had drastically shifted position. He was still cross legged on the floor, but to comfort himself, he’d pulled her up and around to face him. Her hips were cradled by his knees and her legs were loosely wrapped around his hips. His arms were around her tightly with his hands splayed over as much of her back that he could reach. She was bent a little awkwardly (she was a couple inches taller than him) and her forehead was pressed into the side of his neck and her arms were loosely around his waist. 

He was breathing deeply against her shoulder, quickly cycling through emotions. He was angry, impressed, deeply concerned, in awe of her strength, hugely satisfied she’d killed them all, deeply disappointed that there was no one that he could kill for her and profoundly grateful that she was here and in his arms. He was, frankly, clinging to her, trying not to think about how close he had been to never having known her.

}*{

_Well_ , Devina thought, _this isn’t entirely unexpected._

She was relaxed in John’s arms where he was holding her tightly in his lap. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d allowed herself to feel just the way she did now. He was warm, comforting and she knew him well enough to know exactly what he was putting himself through, for her sake.

She felt like pushing for the first time in fifteen years. She felt like she needed to reclaim this part of herself, and between her and Tristan, she thought John might climb right on board that train with her. 

She made the decision to try.

}*{

John abruptly became aware of exactly how he was holding Devina when he felt her legs tighten around his hips and her hands slid up his back under his shirt. He sucked in a breath and reflexively tightened his arms around her, pulling her hips down as he curled into her further.

“Oh, fuck,” he breathed out and he felt her smile against his neck. 

He urged her back so that he could look at her. He searched her face, intently, and saw that her eyes were clear and a smile was playing about her lips while he just stared.

His eyes drifted closed and he groaned when she tightened her legs around him again and sunk her short nails into his lower back. He couldn’t help but sink back into her and kiss up under her jaw. She hummed in approval and he leaned back from her again.   
“Are you sure about this?” he asked her as he brought his hands up her back, sliding one up to cradle the back of her skull and the other along her jaw, tilting her head back. He leaned forward and nipped along the other side of her neck.

He felt her head tip back further into his hands as she ground her hips down onto his growing erection.

“Yes,” was all she said. 

He groaned again and tipped her head down toward him so that he could kiss her. He wasn’t gentle, he’d wanted this for too long. He licked into her mouth and she sucked his tongue further into her mouth. _Oh, fuck_ , he thought, _what have I gotten myself into?_

She broke the kiss and was breathing heavily when he opened his eyes to look at her, again. She grinned at him before she rose gracefully to her feet.

“First, though,” she said as she turned toward the bathroom she'd renovated in the gym, “I need a shower.” She looked back over her shoulder at him where he was sitting on the floor, “Coming?”

He didn’t think he’d ever gotten to his feet so quickly in his life as he hurried to follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	21. Moving along

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> back to the grind!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if anyone has been waiting. Got a new job and so briefly focused elsewhere!  
> Here ya go.

John sighed contentedly and Devina made an agreeable noise where she was being held loosely in the circle of his arms. They were both a fucked out mess, back on the mats in the gym and in desperate need of another shower. He figured they would get there, eventually.

“Why?” John asked her. Now that he’d had a moment to think his earlier musings were coming back to him. Where was Tristan in all of this?

Devina hummed and pressed a kiss into his shoulder before she spoke, “Because Tristan is much less of an idiot that I am.” 

“What?” he asked, startled.

He heard her chuckle again before she sat up next to him, gloriously naked and covered in scars. He couldn’t see the tattoo that he’d been pleased to discover, earlier, and he had to blink a couple times to refocus his attention. He did let his hands wander a little bit as he sat up and faced her. They sat cross legged on the mat, knees together and hands resting on each other.

“Tristan knows me all the way through, just as I know him,” she said. “He knew I was going to have this breakdown and that I wouldn’t tell him about it. He already blames himself, wrongly, for not being able to find me when I disappeared.”

He nodded in agreement, “He would, yeah. But that doesn’t explain the rest.”

His breath caught a little bit when she smiled at him. Her expression was open and happy with humor shining in her eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her impulsively. He wanted to know why, yes, but it didn’t matter nearly as much when she looked at him like that.

The kiss broke and she looked at him intently, before she reached up and stroked her fingertips over his face.

“Do you want to hear this?” she asked him. “If you don’t, it’s alright.”

“Yes,” he swallowed again, “I do.”

She dropped her hand from his face, stroked it down his arm to his hand and held onto it. 

“Like I said,” she started, “Tristan knows me. This wasn’t anything I particularly hid, but I didn’t know that he’d seen it so clearly.” She looked back into his eyes. “You were the first person that could hold my attention, even while Tristan was right next to me.”

He couldn’t imagine what showed on his face, but whatever it was, it made her laugh. 

“I assume Tristan called you, today? Asked you to come?”she asked him. When he nodded she continued, a smile still on her face, “I’d bet that he called you after I started to cry. He wanted me to fight this battle and get this part of myself back, so he put us both in a position where I could.” She leaned forward and kissed behind his ear before she spoke lowly, “You are someone that we both trust and care for.”

He turned his head and caught her lips again in a heated kiss before all of her words registered. He broke the kiss and asked her, “How would he know you’d been crying?”

She laughed so hard and so long that she fell over. He could feel the scowl forming on his features and she just laughed harder as she caught the look on his face. She reached up for him and tugged him down to her. He gave in and let her pull him down without too much resistance. She held his face in her hands where he was sprawled out above her.

“John,” she said, “since I went missing Tristan has eyes on me as much as possible. Always,” she said and guided his head and eyes to where the cameras were in the room.

He groaned and buried his face into the side of her neck and mumbled, “Christ, Devi, do you think he was watching?”

She chuckled beneath him and said, “I have no idea. Does it matter?” She kissed the end of his nose when he shook his head in the negative. “Come on, lover, let’s get cleaned up and go get some food.”

He rolled off of her and leered at her appreciatively as she stood. She reached down for him and hauled him up, pulling him back toward the shower.

He went along happily, content to just enjoy the rest of his time with her. 

}*{

Devina was still smiling when she entered her flat. She and John had had a lovely brunch and parted ways at Regent’s Park so he could have fun dealing with Sherlock on his own and she could go home and change before heading into MI6. She stopped in the kitchen where she’d left her laptop before heading to her room for clothes.

_Of course_ , she thought, as the smile dropped off her face when she checked her email, _life wouldn’t be life if everything didn’t come at once._

She’d been summoned to get another brief. From Mallory, rather than Tanner. She sighed and puller out her phone, sending a group text to Tristan, James and Alec before she sent a private text to Mycroft.

_New brief pending, will come with details when available. -PB_

_I will be in the office late this evening.-MH_

Devina took her phone into her room with her while she stripped off and put her usual weapons back on. She was not about to go into the viper’s den without proper armament. Fuck that noise.

She paused for a moment, as her own thoughts caught her off-guard. She grinned a little bit as she realized that she’d reclaimed a little bit more than her sexuality. It seemed like some of her natural irreverence was back, as well. Excellent. She was very practical and, when it came to herself, had a habit of plowing through mental issues when she recognized them. 

She’d have to be introspective, later, business, now.

She picked up her phone to check it, since she had all notifications turned off. A light, buzz or noise at inopportune times was not acceptable. She had messages from all three men.

_Come see me in q-branch before you go.-T_

_See you when you get back. I still want to take you out on that date.-J_

_Watch your back, see you soon.-A_

She just smiled and went about getting ready. She needed to be prepared for Mallory, mentally. He was fucked, but she couldn’t let him know it yet.

She was wearing her pleasantly professional facade when she stepped into MI6.

}*{

Tristan was working on a personal project when Devina made her way into q-branch. He doubted anyone else would have noticed that her edges were just a little bit worn down and her smiles and greetings to her colleagues came just a little easier, was just a little more genuine.

But then, no one knew her the way that he did.

She caught his eye from where she was going over an electrical schematic with one of their techs. She winked at him and he smiled before going back to work on the program he was setting up around James’ and Alec’s flat. He’d contacted Mycroft and let him know that he was going to be setting up a sub-program in the CCTV around their homes. He didn’t want Mallory to be able to see activity around them and he didn’t want Mycroft’s minions to start looking for the reason why. Co-operation and all that. 

He’d already fixed the CCTV around his and Devina’s flats, ages ago. Mycroft was well aware that they brooked no interference in their personal lives. He imagined that Mycroft had been trying to get Devina to work for him in the two years she’d been out of MI6, and had been looking for her home. It was well off the radar, even if she lived in a building owned by MI6. MI6 didn’t know that they owned the building. 

Tristan and Devina both _loved_ fucking about with records. That everything was electronic just made things that much easier for them.

He’d already hacked into Mallory’s files and found Devina’s mission briefs, as well as the next missions for Alec and James. He had news for her, and she would NOT like it, at all. It would be fun for him, however, to see how the three of them handled it. He would leave it to her to decide if she would tell them now, or see the out in the field. She was being sent to assassinate a person that they were being sent to keep from being assassinated.

She’d been right. Mallory wanted them dead and her in his pocket. He was thinking of coming down with a sickness. He didn’t think it would bode well for him to be in MI6 with the other three out of the country. Maybe he’d join them. Might be fun, after all.

Now that Devina was on board, they had quite a lot of new ground to cover.

He didn’t realize he was grinning until Devina was in front of him, eyebrows up.

“Something good?” she asked, indicating the code he was working on.

“Yes,” he said, “but I wasn’t really thinking about that.”

“Oh?”

“No,” he said, “come on then, I have something to tell you before you go,” he said as he gestured to his office.

Once they are in and settled, him behind his desk and Devina in one of his guest chairs, he pulls out his own signal jammer/booster and whited the surveillance on his office out. She grinned at him and waited for what he had to say.

“Business first,” he said to her, smiling in return. “You have received your brief, yes?”

Her face soured, “Yes, Mycroft is going to go apeshit. I might not have to do the dirty business, he might do it, himself.”

Tristan chuckled, “Indeed, he might. What you don’t know is that 006 & 007 are being sent to guard your target.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” she asked, incredulous. He loved that she didn’t guard herself with him. “He really has no idea, does he? What it means that I work for 6?”

“Apparently not.”

She rolled her eyes, “Well, given that it is a political assignment, that gives me a lot of leeway on timing. My brief doesn’t say that it has to look like a killing, and you know I can make it look like just about anything. Not that I am going to actually _do_ this job.”

“Of course not,” he agrees, “but we do have to appear to follow protocol at the moment.”

He could see the worry in her eyes as she looked him over, “I feel like I shouldn’t leave you here. This is the first deep play he’s made.”

“I’ll be fine, down here. He can’t do a thing and you know that my division is loyal to me, not Mallory.”

She sighed, heavily, “I know that I don’t need to ask, but you have an escape route?”

He nodded at her affectionately, “I do.”

“Alright,” she said, “I’ll take off. Coming over, tonight?”

“Why don’t you wait for me at mine?” he responded.

She grinned, her earlier manner coming back to the fore.

}*{

Tristan let himself into his flat, dumped his things on the kitchen table and made his way to the living room. Devina was there, curled up on the couch, leaning into the arm and watching a movie.

She turned and smiled at him while he came around to join her. She shifted so that when she flopped onto the couch he could crawl up between her legs and rest his head on her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed the top of his head.

“I’m sorry,” she said into his hair.

He craned his neck to look at her, “What for?”

She blew out a sigh and he put his head back down. Oh. She was going to actually talk about it. This would be new.

“For not acknowledging it. For turning you away over and over,” she said, quietly and not characteristic, at all.

“No,” Tristan said as he tightened his hold on her, “you have never turned me away.” He cleared his throat in an effort to clear the sudden tightness, “And after that mess, I was terrified that you were going to leave. I was so happy that you stayed. I just wanted you, however I could get you.”

Her grip tightened on him, “And now?”

“He was what you needed in that moment. We always give each other what we need, don’t doubt it,” he reassured her.

“And what do you need?” she asked him and he could hear the smile in her voice.

“You,” his voice was full of raw honesty. “I just need you, Devina Nicole Fredericks.”

He felt her hand come up and her fingers curled around his jaw and tipped his face upward and she kissed him. It was raw and full of need.

His last coherent thought of the evening was _Yes. Finally, yes…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	22. Sappy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mycroft is awesome, Mallory is terribly stupid, Devina is introspective, James is silly and Tristan is done with this shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think I might wrap this up, soon. However, I am pretty sure that I'll add to the series.  
> And I got a comment! Woohoo!   
> I certainly hope people are enjoying this story.

It wasn’t until the next morning that he remembered to ask her, “What did Mycroft say?”

They were puttering around the kitchen, sipping coffee and making breakfast before they went their respective ways. They were both so relaxed as to be indolent. 

They’d woken up for a round of slow, lazy sex after the frenzy of the night before. It didn’t occur to them to wonder at how easily they had fallen into this part of their relationship. Sex ended up being as easy for them as everything else had been.

She smiled at him over the rim of her cup and took a sip before she answered. 

“He’s confirmed Mallory’s idiocy. He is, well,” she paused and let out a feral grin, “going to be executed for treason.”

Tristan almost dropped his cup and just stared at her before he blinked himself back into awareness, “Treason?”

“Yes,” she stated firmly. “He, in his position as the head of MI6, handed me, _actually handed me_ , a mission brief to kill a high ranking political figure in a stable, allied government.”

“So,” Tristan said, “definitely treason.”

“Yup,” she said, popping the “p” at the end.

“Who’s handling it?” he asked.

He knew before she answered, just by the glint in her eye.

“I will be handed the order. This absolutely cannot have any media coverage or any of that shit that happen with Silva,” she said, voice cool, “so I get to do what I do and make it look like something else.”

“What about Alec and James?” he said, referring to them going on a protection detail.

“They will still go,” she remarked. “If any investigation comes out of this, they need to be seen as being loyal to the agency.”

He nodded in understanding, “And, you don’t have to worry about them when you go after Mallory.”

She grinned, “You know they are gonna to be pissed, right?”

“Oh, yes.”

}*{

It was much later in the day, after Tristan had gone to work and she had gone home that she had a moment to think. The day before had been quite full. 

She’d started out having to be more honest than she’d allowed herself to be in years, had a breakdown, had sex with John (and wasn’t that just entirely too much fun), been asked to commit treason, gotten someone else tagged for it (because she hadn’t been brought up to be stupid), and finally (fuck, yes, finally) consummated her relationship with the love of her life.

She already had a good idea of how she was going to handle Mallory, as soon as Mycroft gave her the OK to proceed. She had no doubt that it was coming. She spared a thought to who would be the next M. She really had no idea, but trusted Mycroft enough to believe that another mistake would not be made. They would get someone worthy of the task. She hoped for an internal promotion, she knew of a couple people who would perform the task, admirably. It was just a matter of them being willing to take on the responsibility.

She wasn’t worried about her and Tristan. They always had the option to run, and if they wanted to stay involved, Mycroft would take them on in a hot second. It was true that while they both enjoyed working for MI6, she had been there for her M and Tristan was there for Devina. Mycroft was someone that she trusted professionally. Maybe they would have to speak about it. She was sure they could gain access to the same type of things. Might be fun to build up a new tech branch.

Her thoughts turned to her relationship with Tristan. She had long ago stopped contemplating a sexual relationship with him, not understanding the the impact PTSD obviously had had on her. She knew they had been headed in that direction before she’d been taken, but once she was back, it was firmly off the table. Her demisexual nature had turned in to asexual, and not at all naturally. She didn’t blame herself, and refused to feel guilty for something that couldn’t be helped now. Between them, they’d managed to fix it, and that was the important bit.

They had always been suited for their own style of an open relationship. They had absolutely no jealousy where the other was concerned. She knew that wouldn’t change, Tristan liked casual sex entirely too much, and he would never begrudge her the people she liked well enough to be attracted to them for sex.

She wondered how it would go with James and Alec. She was fairly certain that they would be open to the type of relationship that she and Tristan could offer them. Though…

James terrified her in a way that Alec never would. 

Alec was comfortable. She was aware that she had been more casually affectionate with Alec than she had with James. He didn’t scare her. She had an easy affection for him that would never be overwhelming. It was just something that she knew. There would come a point when he realized what she was and they would settle into a friendship. She was fine with the steps that would happen in between. 

James, on the other hand, was…She didn’t even know. He could never replace Tristan, but her gut told her that he could hold and equal place in her heart and life. If she let him. The problem was, that if she gave him anything, she would give him everything. She should probably talk to Tris about it before she and James had their date. 

Yeah, she’d do that.

Having formed a plan of action, she made herself a drink, turned on the telly and curled up on the couch.

She turned her thoughts to what she was going to do with Mallory when the order came down.

}*{

James was sitting in Tristan’s office after he and Alec had been briefed on what he felt was a bullshit assignment. But they were going with it, _following orders_ as it were. They knew what a precarious position they were in. At least they weren’t being sent to kill at random. He felt for Devina in that respect.

That would be completely shite. He knew that none of them felt remorse for who they killed, but neither he nor Alec were indiscriminate about it. He knew in his gut that she wasn’t, either.

Tristan was just looking at him from where he was sitting back in his chair, waiting for James to tell him what he wanted. It was strange, having a personal connection to his Quartermaster, but he wanted to talk to him about something personal.

“Q,” he started, “I want to ask you something.”

Tristan smiled at him and raised an eyebrow. Shy was not something James was, ever.

James let out a heavy sigh and Tristan asked, “Personal, then?”

When James nodded, Tristan held up a finger and opened a drawer and puled out a small device that he set on the desk between them. He activated it and said, “Ask away.”

“It’s about Devina,” James stated hesitantly.

Tristan nodded, “I figured. What do you have on your mind?”

“Should I pursue her?” he asked as he sat forward, “I mean, I see how she is with Alec and she isn’t like that with me. I just don’t know if she wants, well, anything, from me.”

Tristan sank deeper into his chair for a moment and closed his eyes before he sat up and forward toward James. 

“Alright, let’s start at the beginning. The first time you saw her, what did you think?”

James thought about it and said, “I thought that I recognized her from somewhere. I dismissed it, though, because I couldn’t place her anywhere. I didn’t pay attention until I saw her check from defending herself. She was armed and I’d have never known.”

Tristan just looked at him and James could feel that weight of his gaze. 

Tristan spoke, enunciating very clearly, “The number of times you could have seen her is ridiculously high.”

James blinked, “What?”

“James,” Tristan paused to marshal his thoughts, “this is one of those things I know but she and I have never talked about. So, how much do you want me to tell you and how much do you want to figure out for yourself?”

“I just need to know if I should do this, or not. I can’t tell if she is even interested,” James might as well have been whining, and he winced, slightly at his own tone.

His wince turned into a scowl as he noticed Tristan’s expression. He was obviously trying not to laugh. He failed, miserably. While Tristan laughed and James waited for him to calm down he slouched back in his chair and resigned himself to not having the upper hand.

Tristan finally trickled down to snuffling giggles. In the end, it made James smile, seeing his Quartermaster laid low by laughter. A month ago, he would have thought anyone crazy if they’d even suggested a fraction of the things he knew about his “Q,” now.

“Would you care to explain?” James finally asked.

“You two are the same fucking person,” Tristan was still chuckling. “James, when was the last time you worried about this kind of thing?”

That actually gave James something to think about. He _never_ worried about it. He just went after what he wanted. Admittedly, what he wanted was usually sex, but that wasn’t the only thing he wanted from Devina. He wanted _her_.

“Now,” Tristan said, interrupting his thoughts, “let me ask you something else,” he leaned back in his chair, smiling a smile that made James snap to and pay attention, “when have you ever seen or heard of Devi being cautious?”

He did but some real thought into the question before he answered, “Never.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Tristan told him. “You have seen her be cautious with you.”

James didn’t realize that he terrified everyone that he passed on his way out of q-branch with the bright smile on his face.

}*{

Tristan deactivated his jammer and put it back in his bag that rested in his desk drawer. He was still smiling over his conversation with James. He’d been expecting for Devina to talk to him about what might be with James, but he hadn’t expected James to ask him for advice. 

He looked at the time and decided to pack it in for the day. James and Alec were going to be on a flight out in the morning and he wanted to see if Devina needed anything from him when her orders came down. He checked his phone, alternating feeds until he found Devi. She was in her own home, cooking. A good time as any to show up. 

When he let himself into Devina’s flat, he could smell food. Wonderful, delicious food. He allowed himself to follow his nose into the kitchen. She looked up from the steaks she was preparing for the oven and pointed her chin to the breakfast bar and he found a drink waiting for him.

“What’s for dinner, then?” he asked.

“Basic,” she returned, “steak, potatoes, brussels sprouts.”

“That’s what smells so good?” he asked.

“Sprouts are pan fried in bacon grease,” she grinned at him before she bent to put the steaks on.

“Oh god, that sounds amazing. You’re the best,” he was practically drooling at the thought.

“Yeah, had them like that in a restaurant once. Liked it, learned it,” she winked at him.

“How long?” he asked.

“Be ready in twenty or so. Have a seat,” she said as she walked around to the table and flopped into a chair.

“So, what did you do today?” he asked her once they were both seated.

She shrugged and sipped at her drink, “Thought too much, watched some shitty TV.”

“Wanna tell me?” he sipped at his own drink.

“Might do,” she said as the timer went off and she went to turn the steaks.

When she came back, she flopped in her seat again and took a swig of her drink. She sighed and looked at him for a moment before she started, “We need to talk about James.”

He leaned back in his chair, and stretched his legs out under the table, crossing them at the ankle as he thought about how this might go.

“Anything in particular?” he asked.

She gave him a flat look, “Of course.”

“Are you going to make me pull teeth like you make them?” he was grinning when he asked.

“Alright, alright,” she said, flicking the condensation from her drink at him, “I’ll spit it out, after dinner.”

Tristan chucked at her antics and helped her to set the table and they chatted pretty aimlessly throughout their meal. He moaned over his steak and the brussels sprouts, she laughed and threw one at him. They cleaned up and followed their usual routine of settling in front of the TV in one of the over-sized arm chairs, this time.

Once they were cuddled up with a movie playing quietly, he said to her, “Time to spill, love.”

She huffed into his hair where he was leaning back against her, “Like you don’t already know.”

“Yes, but you need to say it,” he told her, “so that I can reassure you.”

She retaliated by biting his ear before giving the rim a swipe with her tongue. 

“How did I get so lucky to have such a cheeky partner?” she bantered at him. He just snuggled down into her more, urging her to get on with it.

“Fine,” she said as she shifted her hold on him to accommodate his movements. “I don’t know what you and James are going to be, and I am fine with whatever, so long as you don’t get in each other’s way. But, are you ok with what he might become to me?”

“I think James and I are going to be friends, nothing more,” he told her. “I think we will commiserate with one another about how trying you can be as a partner.” 

She snorted a laugh into his hair and kissed his head, “You wouldn’t change a thing about me and you know it.”

“No,” he agreed, “I wouldn’t. I am completely alright with you loving James. Even if you ever love him as much as you love me, you won’t love him more, and you won’t leave me behind. I know that you have enough love to give us both.”

She sighed against him, “If anyone needs to be loved, it’s James.”

“Yes.”

She hugged him tightly and whispered to him, “Thank you. If we can get this right, we will all be so good together.”

He chuckled, “I am sure we will get some things wrong, but not one of us will give up easily. What about Alec, though?”

He could feel her grin, “You and Alec will be very close, I think,” she told him, and he had to agree, “as for Alec and I, we will fall into friends. He will figure out, quickly, that as fascinated as he is, I am not at all what he wants.”

“Will you sleep with him?” he found himself asking.

“I doubt it,” she said, “I find him comfortable. I don’t know what might happen later, but as of now, no.”

“Alright. Are we done with this topic then? We have other things to discuss,” he craned his neck back to look at her.

She kissed his forehead, “Yeah, we do. What kind of surveilence do we have on Mallory?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	23. He was just a footnote at MI6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Devina gets it done.

Discreet.

In her defense, she had asked.

Discreet as in “no one knows that it was an assassination” or discreet as in “no one knows who did it”?

She’d gotten a long blink and a considering look before Mycroft had sighed, deflated and said, “So long as it cannot be connected to us, however discreet you wish.”

He looked like he was about to balk at the grin that erupted on her face. He did actually shiver briefly before he shook his head at her. She told him goodbye and and sauntered out of his office and headed toward home.

Once she was there, she turned off her phone and left it on the table before she accessed the basement. She knew that phone would be a dead giveaway for Tristan (he’d check the feeds for her apartment), but she had no reason to think he would be checking in with her, today. There were two 00 missions that required his help, so he would be busy for quite some time.

She broke into laughter as she thought about how Alec and James were going to react. James would be pleased and Alec would start to have a hissy fit until he was reminded of who she was, again. Well, at least they could come home when she was done.

She went through her things, picking out what may or may not be used as she thought about what she knew of Mallory’s set up at home. He had minimal security. Just a few cameras and a panic button. She was a little curious as to whether or not he had staff on-site, but they could be dealt with as they came. 

She dressed and armed herself. As she left her home, she looked around and smiled at the usual damp weather. It was perfect for a walk. When she got to his house, it would be full dark and perfect for her purposes. 

She made sure her door was locked and walked down the street with a purpose.

}*{

When she let herself back in, she was smiling, again. She was tired and at peace. Mycroft would be pleased by how she’d handled it. The investigation would show no foul play. 

She made her way to access the basement, stripping her unused weapons and dirty clothes along the way. She had her weapons bundled in hand to put away but left her dirty, smoky clothing along the floor to be gathered and washed, later. 

Tristan was up and moving almost before she saw him where he was sitting on the couch. She kept her hand full of strapped weapons out as he wrapped his arms around her and she hugged him back with her free arm. She grinned as she pressed her face into his neck and breathed him in.

“You scared the shit out of me,” he mumbled into her shoulder. “When I saw that you’d gone decked out, I wasn’t sure what would come back to me.”

She pulled him closer with her arm and responded, “It’s done.”

She wouldn’t let him pull back from her and instead nipped up the side of his neck to his ear before sucking the lobe into her mouth. When she felt his shiver, she loosened her hold on him and leaned back to look at his face.

She smiled at him, “We’re safe,” she kissed him quickly. “Let me put these away, then you can help clean me up?”

He chuckled at her, “Of course. Once you let it go, led by your libido. Don’t know why I am surprised.”

“You love it,” she winked before she let go of him, “and I’ll tell you, after. Before you read it in the paper, yeah?”

She could see him struggling not to smile at her, the corners of his lips were twitching a bit as he shooed her toward the basement. He followed her down the stairs and watched as she put way her things. They didn’t speak, just taking comfort in the routine. Generally, he already knew what had happened while they followed this ritual, but it was pushed aside for the comfort they found in it.

She saw Tristan blink when she’d finished up and he processed that she had been in her bra, pants and barefoot while putting her things away. His concern had over-ridden his senses, it seemed.

She grinned as she walked over to him and bodily turned him and prodded him back up the stairs. He yelped and hopped up a step when she pinched his ass as he went up in front of her. They both broke out into laughter as she started to strip him on the way to the shower. He stumbled and then turned to tug at the closures on her own trousers. 

They finally broke apart and stripped off their own clothing before they crowded into her shower. She grunted and he squeaked a bit as cold water hit them before it warmed up. He washed the smell of smoke out of her hair while her hands and mouth wandered.

The water was long cold before they finished up.

}*{

Tristan watched her from the bed as she rummaged through her drawers. She pulled out a couple things and ended up dressed in black silk pajama pants and a purple (where that came from, he didn’t know) sports bra.

“You going somewhere?” he asked, pouting.

“Yes,” she grinned and crawled up the bed to kiss him, “I am going to get some damn food. Do you want any?”

“I do,” he said attempting to grab her around the waist and he frowned when she evaded him, chuckling. 

“I’m led by my libido?” she asked him archly, raising an eyebrow at him as she looked back at him on her way out the bedroom door.

He hollered after her as he climbed out of bed to find some trousers for himself, “You knew that I was!”

Her laughter trailed in to him and he smiled while he dug though her drawers for another set of pajamas. He had been more than pleasantly surprised by the reality of her sexuality and sexual appetite. He had though he knew how she was in bed, but he understood, now, the difference between her allowing a mark to use her body and how she was when she had sex with someone of her choosing. 

She was a force to be reckoned with, sexually, as she was in all things. He loved it. He couldn’t wait to see her with James, if they made it that far. As he pulled on his pilfered pants, he took a moment to wonder if they should warn James that he was a shameless voyeur when it came to Devina and she happily encouraged him.

He shrugged off the thought. James would deal with it; he and Devina weren’t about to change their habits for him. He made his way to the kitchen where she was shirting through containers in the fridge. She’d put the kettle on and was pulling out leftovers.

“What have you got?” he asked her as he made them both hot toddies. 

She made a discontent noise and said, “Nothing that I want.” 

He went to the drawer with takeout menus and pulled one out at random, “How about Thai?”

“Wonderful!” she said happily and dumped all the containers back into the fridge. “Make sure to get Thai tea. We can put whiskey in it. Or vodka. Whatever. I kind of want to get a little smashed.”

“Have you got spiced rum?” he asked, knowing that she probably did.

She crowed as she opened the liquor cabinet and pulled out a rather large bottle of Kraken Rum. Excellent.   
He called the order in for them and they settled on the couch to wait for delivery, sipping their hot drinks. 

“Tell me.”

She grinned, “It was brilliant, Tris. He was such a moron. He had next to no security measures. Well, nothing to me, anyway. He had one guard and his CCTV was all sent to a central computer that wasn’t even online.

“And, the moron had ‘scripts in his medicine cabinet for fucking Valium. When I woke him up, he was so calm, I knew he’d take some-”

He interrupted her, “You woke him up?!”

She rolled her eyes, “Yes, I did. Mycroft said I could do it how I wanted, so long as it couldn’t be traced back to us or him. It’s not like I sat next to him on the bed and had a conversation. I just made a noise that should have startled him awake. He only blinked a few times, rolled back over and went to sleep.”

“So, what did you do?” he asked.

She sighed, “It wasn’t very nice, but at least he died before he burned.”

“Oh, fuck me,” he said, pained, “just explain it all, you are giving me an ulcer.”

“Right, so we had a pretty good idea of what was in the house, yes?” she continued after he nodded. “I was able to get in and to the computer without the guard knowing,” she rolled her eyes at the ease with which she’d accomplished that, “I searched the house, I brought you and Mycroft some presents, by the way, and overclocked the computer. Drastically. There was a ton of paperwork that I may have placed very close to the vents,” she drawled.

“Once the house caught fire, the guard, I assume independent, as he had no inclination to report it to anyone, did a runner. I didn’t follow him, just stayed long enough to know that Mallory died of smoke inhalation before the fire hit the floor his bedroom was on.”

“You stayed in his room until he was dead, didn’t you?” he asked her, glaring hotly. “That’s why you were so smoky.”

She nodded at him, “Yes, I had to make sure it was done. Any investigation will lead back to the computer, and you know they won’t find anything else.” 

Tristan didn’t say anything to her and the door bell rang. Devina sighed as she got up to pay for their food and brought it to the kitchen. She would give him a minute; he’d come around. He just always did hate when she didn’t let him know before hand. But, she’d gone in with no plan. 

She plated up some food for both of them and was adding rum to their teas when he appeared in the kitchen. She could see the apology in his face. _Shit_ , she thought, _he doesn’t need to look at me like that._

“Tristan,” she said and put the bottle down and walked to him. She wrapped her arms around him, “I had to do this for myself. I didn’t have a plan when I went in, and I knew that you would be upset. I am sorry for that, but it had to be done. We would have over complicated it. Sometimes, simple is best.”

Tristan relaxed against her as she spoke, “I know. I just, I know. I have no desire to change you, and this is so very, very you. I am amazed that you handled it as well as you did, given how strongly we all felt about it, personally.”

She gave him a squeeze before she returned to the counter. She handed him a plate and a tea before she picked up her own and led him back to the couch. They settled in with there food on the coffee table and she picked up the remote.

“Q’s choice?” she asked him.

He took the remote from her and turned the system on and started to scroll through her selection and settled on Firefly. He smiled evilly at her as he sat back.

“You know I’m calling them back as soon as I get in, tomorrow? I’ll be in fucking meetings all day because of this shit. I expect to get a call at any time,” he revert to glaring at her.

“Well, I’ll go in with you and hold it down while you and R freak out, alright?” she offered.

“Are you going to stay with us, then?” he asked her.

“I don’t know yet,” she said. “It’s going to depend on who steps into the position. I always had trust issues and this didn’t lessen them.”

“What else would you do?” he asked, already knowing but he wanted to have the conversation. He had always been much more vocal than she was.

“Mycroft would take me in a heartbeat. I actually expect an offer at any time,” she smiled at him, not really indicating what she would do, either way.

“No more freelance?” he clarified.

“No,” this time her smile lit up her face as she looked at him, “I have a reason to be home, now. I want to work, I will work, but I _like_ being here, more than I did. Freelance doesn’t allow for settling down, you know?”

Tristan’s smile was brilliant. He didn’t know why he kept being surprised that she was all in. He bumped her shoulder with his own as they ate and quoted the show they were watching. They both knew that the next few weeks would be a hassle and so were enjoying the calm before the inevitable phone call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged


	24. Silly Alec

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec behaves badly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, I don't even know what I am doing, anymore...

James looked up from his phone as he disconnected the call he’d just gotten to where Alec had burst into the door.

“Did you get the recall?” Alec asked him.

“I did, faulty intelligence, no assassination attempt, after all,” James replied, “Odd, though, the request to report in immediately.”

Alec walked over and joined him at the table by the window of their hotel room and took a seat. He grabbed the bottle that James had been pouring his drinks from and took a swig directly from the neck.

“What do you make of it?” Alec asked.

James shrugged as he took the bottle back and topped off his glass, “Nothing. This has happened before, it will happen again, I’m sure. At least we get to go home.”

“Indeed we do,” Alec smiled at him. “Are you going to seduce our Little Darkness?”

James snorted out a laugh and manged not to choke on his drink, “If she is anyone’s, she is Tristan’s, but frankly, I rather think we are all hers.”

Alec hummed agreement after a moment of thought, “We do seem to orbit around her. It’s interesting. We’ve never done this, before.”

“No, we haven’t. I hope it works out alright,” Jame said.

“It will,” Alec was all self-assurance as he answered, “I don’t really know how, but it will. When is our flight back?”

“Soon enough that we should get going,” James replied, standing up and making his way to where their bags were stowed. “Let’s get to it.”

They bantered as the packed and went to the airport, neither having a clue about the situation that they would be walking into when they went back to MI6.

}*{

 _This is not going to go well,_ James thought as he followed Alec at a more sedate pace into q-branch, ostensibly to turn in their tech. 

They had just left a conference room that held all the department heads, and one Mycroft Holmes, where they had learned about the death of M in a house fire. There had been no foul play detected by early investigation and their forensics team was doing a more thorough search then the Fire Safety Inspector would have done.

They were busy trying to determine who would take over and how long a probationary period would be before a permanent replacement could be found. From the chatter, there were some internal possibilities. They had been shooed out of the room before they had been privy to much information. 

James and Alec had showed the proper reactions while in the room. James had not been terribly surprised, Devina had stated her intention to kill Mallory, but he had thought she was out on a mission. Alec, on the other hand, was livid. He seemed to operating under the misapprehension that she’d owed them some warning or place in her plan. An explanation, at least, he supposed. He rather thought that Alec was in for a rude awakening. Especially if he was determined to address it in front of q-branch. 

She was going to wipe the floor with him. Again.

This time, with witnesses. _Oh,_ James thought, _I do love the way she puts him in his place._ quickly followed by, _shit!_

Everyone in q-branch was frozen by the time Alec reached Devina at the main workstation. James stood several feet from them, mostly to makes sure that no one got involved. He could hear that Alec was speaking to her in that quite, angry way all agents were capable of doing.

He’d forgotten how easily Q was able to put them in their place, though, and that she’d likely been the one to teach him how to do it. She didn’t even acknowledge that Alec was standing so closely to her, practically vibrating, anger obvious to anyone in the room.

She spoke clearly, voice so cold that it wouldn’t have melted ice as she addressed the quivering agent next to her, “006, you seem to have forgotten where you are and whom you are addressing. Please remove yourself before you persuade me to do it for you.”

}*{

Alec blinked a couple of times and came to several realizations at once. They were at MI6 (where everyone believed Mallory had died in a rather unfortunate accident), Devina was running q-branch while Q and R were in meetings, Devina could kick Alec’s ass without breaking a sweat and he was challenging her in her territory. In Q’s territory. 

_Oh fuck_ , he thought, _they’re going to kill me._

He took a deep breath in and centered himself before he bowed to her, formally and said, “Apologies, D, I will come back when I can be more civil.”

He breathed a small, unnoticeable sigh of relief as she finally turned to face him. He barely held his composure as his relief disappeared when he noticed the coldness in her eyes.  
“I believe that would be best. Please leave your equipment at the desk furthest from me,” she gave him the direction with no change in her demeanor until she turned to acknowledged James. “007, do you wish to return your equipment as well?”

“Yes, D, now would be a good time,” James said, calmly.

She reached behind her and slid a tray into their line of sight. Alec deflated and turned back to exit the branch, stopping on his way to leave his equipment where requested. The desk was unoccupied. 

He waited at the door for James and watched as he chuckled at something she said to him while he placed his equipment in the tray next to her. He straightened as he noticed all the techs staring at Devina with awe on their faces. Well, she deserved it. She’d just put one of the most unruly 00s in his place and made the most dangerous 00 laugh. 

Christ. He really needed to get a hold of himself before she really did just kick his ass and write him off as a lost cause. He just didn’t know how to deal with someone who was so much tougher than he was. He kept forgetting that there was such a thing. She never treated him as lesser than her, but he seemed to have a learning curve where respecting her and her abilities was concerned. 

He sighed as James crossed the bullpen to join him on his way out of the branch. They were quiet as the crossed the lobby to the elevators. 

He thoughts spun until James spoke to him, “I feel like you are going to keep testing her until she kicks your ass. All over the place. As in, actually hurts you.”

“You might be right,” Alec said on a sigh. “She took care of that with you ages ago, at your request.”

“That she did, but she took quite a bit of care to not damage me,” James remarked. “Your stubborn ass, though, is going to take more convincing than I did.”

Alec was starting to worry that if he pushed her that far, she’d be gone. He sighed again, “What did she say that made you laugh?”

James chuckled again as they stepped onto the elevator, “She said she knew you were going to have a hissy fit, but hadn’t thought you’d do it at work. It made me laugh, until I realized what kind of danger you were aiming to put her in.”

Alec felt himself blanch as he met James’ hard stare. He’d been too heated, he hadn’t even thought it through. _shit shit shit, they are ALL going to kill me_

“Oh, fuck,” he said, “I fucked up badly.”

“You did,” James said. “I hope you realize that Q will know what happened before we see him again.”

Any color that Alec had regained in his face once again fled. He sedately followed James out of the MI6 building and back to their apartment to unload and wait for word from their boffins.

}*{

Devina was working her way through the records and findings on the fire at Mallory’s house while she contemplated what to do about Alec. The more he challenged her, the less she wanted to do with him. It was a shame, really. He was quite likable, just stubborn and not aware of his blatant disrespect toward her.

She was going to kick his ass. If she did, she knew they would only be friends, after. Close, if he allowed it, but that would be it. She had already accepted that, but had put it off, given that she’d had a bit of hope for more. But, Tristan was half gone on him; he was easier than her or James. But, he wouldn’t love Alec as much _because_ he was easier than her or James.

She rarely had reasons, other than knowing how fucking lucky she was, to appreciate the unconditional, unwavering love they held for each other, but she certainly was appreciating it now. She forced herself to not smile fondly over her thoughts about Tristan. She was still at work, after all.

 _Speak of the Devil_ , she thought as Tristan joined her at the main workstation in q-branch. She looked at him appraising his appearance and huffed.

“You should go home. You look exhausted,” she said.

“I am headed that way,” he agreed, smiling at her frankness. “I just wanted to check in and ask what happened when James and Alec got back.”

She rolled her eyes as she pulled up the footage for him and let him watch it on his tablet. The perspective was from the camera on the laptop she usually worked on, so there was sound.

He looked up at her, angry, when the footage stopped. “You had this prepped?”

“Yes, I knew you would ask. Or find it yourself,” she grinned.

“Did he forget where he was? Where you were? What kind of position he could have put you in?” he was speaking quietly, but furious.

“I am guessing he forgot all of those things. He left quietly. James took him to their home, I believe,” she shrugged, no longer angry.

He could see the resignation in her eyes, “You are going to hurt him?”

“I am going to have to,” she fired back, “I won’t let this sort of disrespect keep happening. He knows, intellectually, but you know that isn’t the same as knowing it in the hind brain.”

He nodded, “Frankly, I surprised that you didn’t do it when he pulled this shite.”

She chuckled, “I already knocked him down a peg in front of the techs. And I needed to remind him to be professional, not invite him to lose face in front of the staff or expose myself any more than I have.”

“How are you going to handle it?” Tristan asked.

“By not killing him.”

}*{

“James.”

James looked over at Alec where he was sitting by the window from the couch where he’d been reading.

“What the fuck, James, look at this,” Alec got up and walked toward him, extending his phone. It was the phone that Devina had given them. 

James took it from his hand and read the text on the screen.

_See you soon.-D_

“I think you are about to be put into your place,” James said as he handed the phone back. “You fucked up and you know it. I think that she was willing to let you figure it out until you put her in danger.”

James settled back into the couch and his book while Alec began to pace. He knew Alec well enough to think he wouldn’t run. He wasn’t a coward by any means, and he’d proved that he didn’t see Devina as an equal where it counted. He’d not just put her in danger, but ALL of them with his antics. If she’d not been able to put a halt to his actions, he could have outed her and they would have been over a barrel as their own knowledge of her actions were questioned.

He pulled out his own phone as it buzzed an alert.

_Don’t be startled when I arrive.-D_

James just put his phone away and pretended to read. It seemed as thought Devina was also aware that Alec wouldn’t run. 

He watched unobtrusively as Alec paced and muttered to himself for awhile before he sat back down in the chair he’d been in by the window. James smirked a little as he took in that Alec seemed resigned to taking a beating. It wouldn’t be that easy, he knew. He wouldn’t learn if it were just him taking a beating and she knew it. In the end, Alec always fought back, he wouldn’t be able to contain himself.

He had a feeling that she knew that, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.


	25. Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor Alec.  
> Finally Devina and James get somewhere.

It took far too long for them to notice her. 

She was leaning against the door frame of the guest bedroom, looking like she had every right to be there and observing them in their home. Neither of them had even been relaxed, given that they’d been expecting her.

She wondered idly if they thought she’d come to the door.

As it was, she’d bypassed their security and came in through the window. She’d been quiet, she knew, but not that fucking quiet. It was almost impossible to open a window, covered with blinds and drapes, silently, but it seemed that she’d managed. Obviously, as neither of them had heard her. 

James was reading on the couch and Alec was brooding in a chair facing the window, looking out. She smiled internally at the large open space before her. It was good, she could dole out this lesson without damaging too many of their things. 

She had her usual armament on her and no plans to use it. She wondered if Alec would be able to keep that in mind or if she’d be forced to disarm him. There came a point when he was controlled by instinct. She knew from his files and her own interactions with him that he could be pushed past his training and into instinctive fight or flight. He’d just always been better and lucky enough to come home, every time, even if he was damaged in the process. 

She really didn’t feel bad about what was going to happen here. He’d managed to do some of the few things that she never allowed. He had assert an opinion that she answered to someone other than herself, personally, and put Tristan in danger. She was not pleased that he’d also put himself and James in danger, but that was secondary. Tristan always came first.

She intentionally projected her presence as she straightened from the door way and strolled into the room.

}*{

Alec had thought himself resigned to learning his lesson. He had known that it was going to hurt, but he couldn’t have anticipate that she was going to attack him psychologically while she beat it into him.

He’d planned on letting her attack him, resolved to only defend. It certainly hadn’t worked out that way. She’d provoked him expertly and worked him into a frenzy of attacks while she asked him to show her the proof of his arrogance.

He wasn’t sure he had any left. He’d never been so soundly beaten in his life. 

He’d _known_ that she was was better than they were. He’d heard the stories, even believed them. She had soundly trounced James. She’d been through more at a younger age then he could really comprehend. She’d been trained by an unknown force from the age of six and still he’d treated her as less. At every turn, he’d behaved as though she needed protecting and coddling; like she should answer to _them_.

And in his anger at her perceived recklessness, he’d put them all in danger. She was right to come to him and encourage him to never do so again. 

James had been correct. She didn’t belong to them; they all belonged to her. 

He was on the floor, chest heaving painfully, just trying to remember how to breath. He felt her moving his limbs, straightening him out before she rolled him onto his side and put him into the classic recovery position.

He could hear her speaking, but it wasn’t to him and he remembered James was there. He’d retreated from the living room the kitchen entryway when Devina had casually walked in from their guest room. How they hadn’t known she was there, he didn’t know. 

James, who had known how deadly and proficient she was from personal experience, was eternally grateful that he’d asked to _spar_ with her, because he didn’t think he’d have survived her doing to him what she’d just done to Alec. It just showed how well she actually knew them, the way she’d handled them.

Alec looked up at her blearily when she settled on the floor next to him. She held a glass of water in one hand and a bottle of painkillers in the other. 

“May I sit you up so that you can have these?” she asked him. 

He managed a small nod. She set the items aside before she shuffled around him and he was rolled onto his back with his head and shoulders propped up in her lap. She pulled him up a little and he opened his mouth for her to place two pills on his tongue before she held up the water for him to drink. He managed half the glass before a negative noise escaped him and she removed it. He felt her hands smoothing his hair back from his forehead and he sighed, waiting for the pills to take affect.

He just continued to lay there, accepting her light touches. He understood, her really did. He doubted her at every turn and put them in danger because he didn’t trust her to do her job. He done exactly what he’d needed to in order to gain her wrath when he’d put them in danger. 

He sighed as the pills started to take effect. He knew that he’d be covered in bruises and while he had no broken bones or torn muscles and ligaments, she’d been able to make it hurt, significantly. She’d done things to him that he’d never even heard of and he'd only managed to land a few solid blows, himself.

“Will you let us get you into the bath before we put you to bed?” she asked him.

He nodded again, sighing as he bent his legs and felt James grasp one arm and Devina slip out from behind him to grasp the other and pull him up. They got him up and with one of them under each of his arms, they lead him to the master bathroom. He could see her signaling James when they maneuvered him through doorway and propped him against the counter. 

“Hafta,” he started before he swallowed and tried again. His voice still slurred the words together, “hafta teach us that thing you do with Q.”

She chuckled and started to undress him as James filled the tub. “It is modified Japanese sign language. We can teach you,” she spoke in an aside to James, “do you have epsom salts? Put a cup in the water.”

“Why Japanese?” James asked as he did as she’d told him. 

“My shihan taught me Japanese sign language and we modified it over time. We liked having a system that was uncommon at it’s core and we could use without detection. Tristan and I can have two completely different conversations and no one ever knows. We do it all the time.”

Alec grunted, “We realized that after the rooftop.”

“I thought James might have known it. I was willing to try,” Devina commented from much lower than she’d been previously.

Alec snorted a laugh, looking where Devina was kneeling before him as she removed his shoes. She looked up at him in question.

“This is definitely not how I imagined things would be if I ever saw you like that,” he explained and the humor quickly turned sour as he looked away from her.

She didn’t laugh as she put his shoes aside and moved to his belt, “Anything is possible, Alec,” she commented, “but not today. Now, you have to prove yourself to _me_.”

“Yes,” he said in assent, “I do.”

He appreciated the situation for what it was. She was taking care of him. It was more than he had a right to expect and something he could only hope for in the future.

}*{

Devina sank into the couch in James and Alec’s living room. It was quiet, Alec was settled into bed and sleeping lightly. She watched as James settled on the other side of the couch and just looked at her curiously.

She smiled, a little sad, and commented, “It had to be done, and now it is.”

He nodded at her and agreed, “Yes. He might be twitchy for a while, but he does insist on learning the hard way.”

She shook her head a little bit, “That’s not what it was, and you know it.”

James’ eyebrow went up, “What was it, then?”

She grimaced and spoke, “It is a rare person who looks at a woman and sees someone as dangerous as a man could be. No matter what their experiences are, women are just _less_ than men.”

James sighed, “Yeah, I know. I don’t like to think he is that way, but he can be. I don’t think he means to be.” James’ posture straightened and he blinked at Devina. “Ah, hell. You two even had a conversation about it. You _don’t_ try to prove that you can do all the things a man can do. _Shit_.

“You don’t identify as a woman, do you?” he questioned.

Her smile was nothing more than a reflexive pull at her lips as she leaned her head back on the couch, “No, I don’t.”

“Will you tell me?” he asked in a voice more gentle than she’d yet heard from him.

She rolled her head to the side to look at him before she sat up and turned so that she had one leg folded up on the couch as she faced him. “What do you want to know?”

“Just tell me how your perceive yourself,” he said as he turned to mirror her posture, “so that I can understand.”

She sighed heavily as she considered what to tell him. She hated this. She didn’t like to explain something that was no one’s business. She needed to tell him, though. She wanted him to be a part of them, so he needed (deserved) to know. There couldn't be lies, he would need the truth of it to make a real decision.

She inhaled to center her thoughts and breathed out slowly before she started, “Well, I am too practical to walk into a hospital and put ‘male’ down on my paperwork. Gender is not fluid, it is defined by chromosomes, yeah?” She waited for him to nod before she continued. “So, I have never actually had a problem with being female. I like this body, quite a bit, actually.”

She smiled as she went on, “I’ll try to keep this more to statements, for the time being. Makes it simple. My gender is female. My sexual identity is male, sometimes fluid. My sexual orientation is somewhere in the asexual spectrum. Demisexual.”

She looked him right in the eye and said, “Seriously, James, other than my body, what have you found about me to be feminine?”

She watched as his head cocked to the side and he considered the question.

"Never, really,” he remarked.

“And particularly sexual?” she asked.

“Not as such, no,” he said, eyebrows lowering.

She smiled at him, “Are you familiar with the asexual spectrum?”

“I know what the word means, but no,” he said and his frown deepened.

“Ah, well,” she told him with a smile, “then you should probably become familiar with it if you are still going to take me to dinner, yes?”

She chuckled at the blank look of surprise that crossed his face before he answered with a firm, “Yes. Yes, I still want to take you to dinner. Tonight?”

“That would be acceptable,” she said as she stood from the couch, “just let me know when and what would be appropriate dress.”

James stood with her and walked her to the door. She turned to him once she was through and told him, “Feel free to ask Tristan anything you are hesitant to ask me about all this, aright? He’ll know what I would rather you ask me, and he seems better at explaining than I am.”

James nodded at her and she reached out to touch his shoulder and stopped before she made contact. James’ eyes shifted from her hand where it closed into a fist to her face where her eyes closed briefly and a pained expression crossed her face. Her eyes opened and he could see her caution and small smile before she told him quietly, “Good bye, James, I’ll talk to you soon.”

With that, Devina turned and walked down the hall and took the stairs down, rather than wait on the elevator. She knew that he had questions and she had given him leave to ask them, but she wasn’t quite sure how he was going to react to the answers. She did hope they had dinner, but wouldn’t hold her breath.

It was a rare moment of insecurity for her.

}*{

James watched her go through the stairwell door before he returned to his living room. He settled into the couch, already making plans. He had some Googling to do and a certain friend to speak to before his date this evening. 

He knew where he wanted to take her, he’d do it up all posh the next time. For now, he wanted them both to be comfortable rather than showy. He sent off a couple of texts. 

To Devina he sent: _Comfortable, nice, not formal. I’ll pick you up in two hours.-J_

To Tristan he sent: _I need a simple answer then a more complete answer: Is she into sex, at all?-J_

He was not quite prepared for Tristan to call him immediately and to be laughing, almost hysterically, when he answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.  
> Still no idea what I am doing, exactly.  
> Having a blast, though.  
> Please comment if you'd like, leave kudos, they make me smile.


	26. This is not the end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue.  
> The wrap up.  
> Things are going well for our favorite spy crew!

Devina strolled into q-branch with a bright smile on her face. 

The hordes of technicians, as well as Q, had all been waiting for her to either come back or be escorted from the premises. A cheer went up as they all realized that her final contract negotiations had gone well. At the ruckus, Q suddenly slammed out of his office, the door swinging open hard enough that R, the closest to him, feared for the window.

It had been six months since her first date with James and everything had gone irritatingly smoothly.

The investigation in the the death of Gareth Mallory had been concluded quickly. The official, and unofficial, cause of death was smoke inhalation. A house fire started by a faulty computer system that was not issued by MI6 was declared the cause and while Mycroft heavily suspected that it was Devina’s hand, she never mentioned it and so he left it alone. If no one knew, no one could tell. The only person who knew the truth of the matter was Tristan, and he’d never tell.

MI6’s return to normal had taken marginally longer. With the help of Mycroft, several department heads had tried out the M position to see if they could and would handle it well. After 5 months, the TSS department head had been named as M. When she met Devina, her response was, “Fucking MI6, of _course_ you’re alive. Why wouldn’t you be?”

She was the woman who had begun to teach her math as a child.

Once Tanner had a chance during the changing of the guard, he briefed M on just exactly who Devina was to MI6. She, unlike Mallory, had gotten the whole story. She’d known Mitsuo, the 007 agent that had trained her and she remembered much of the things that had happened. After that, “contract negotiations” had begun in earnest. There would, of course, be no contract, but there was a firm understanding of what Devina did for MI6 and for Mycroft Holmes. They included q-branch, given what she had accomplished there throughout her life. 

It was decided that she was officially named ‘D.’ R remained the second in command of the Quartermaster branch and the ‘D’ designation was only for her and the current incarnation of Q. She was his equal in all things. If something happened to one of them, they would be Q and R would remain second in command. R knew her limitations and was perfectly happy with the arrangement. 

To Tristan’s delight, his security clearance was actually raised to match Devina’s level. Now, she could tell him anything and everything. And she did.

She was still the MI6 assassin. She was given leave to ‘travel for technical issues with all government agencies,’ so that her absences could be explained away on short notice. She was, however, allowed to review and expand any information brief she was given. She and Q would know ahead of time when a brief was being assembled for her so that timing would not become an issue. 

Devina was delighted to hear that she would still work for Mycroft on occasion. She had laughed long and loudly when she’d found out that the new M insisted that it be on a case by case basis, only negotiable with M for Devina’s services. She still met with Mycroft now and then. They had become friends and Mycroft had been delighted that her decision to sleep with John Watson had thrown Sherlock into a bout of honest emotion in which he told John how he felt. 

She was happy for the two men, truly.

Tanner had invited to Devina to dinner to renew her acquaintance with his wife and daughter. They were wary of her but liked her well enough. It was Tanner’s way of thanking her for protecting him and his family from what could have been a disastrous head of MI6. They never spoke of what happened, but nothing would ever convince Tanner that Devina hadn’t taken it into her own hands.

Sitting on Tanner’s back patio, sipping drinks, she had laughingly told him about the night Eve Moneypenny had broken into her decoy flat and the result. She had flirt her little heart out with the very gay Harold and not gotten anywhere. She had also avoid Devina and q-branch like the plague, not sure why she had such nightmares about the people who worked there. 

Tanner had laughed almost hysterically before he regained his composure. “I never did like that jumped up little tart,” was all he said. He made sure that she was transferred to a very remote, vaguely inhospitable location where she was watched, constantly for bad behavior. With no Mallory to protect and encourage her, no one had wanted her in the home office.

Tristan strode to her across the bullpen and, if possible, her grin widened. He hugged her quickly before, much like her first day among them, grabbed her wrist and tugged her along past his office and down to the labs. All the technicians breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, knowing they were in good care.

“Alright, everyone, back to work,” called R from her workstation. If she pulled up the camera feed to follow their progress to D’s hot lab, no one needed to know.

}*{

Devina looked around the cafe, happy with the amount of business it was doing at the time of day. They had found a good person to run the morning shift that she no longer ran. The employees still had no idea that she actually owned the place, and that was how she preferred things.

She smiled as Alec walked in the door, looking for her. When he caught her eye and grinned she motioned him over to the table she was sitting at, his coffee already there waiting for him.

They had progressed leaps and bounds in their association with one another. Alec had learned to trust her judgment and was comfortable bringing concerns to her about anything, rather than flying off the handle at her, which always ended badly for him.

She had learned to accept that he would always worry about her, much the way that Tristan did. They _all _had to accept that worry came part and parcel with being involved with MI6 field employees. They was always a risk, and they managed that risk as much as they could.__

__Today, she was going to show him the gym. He’d love having a private space to work out, and she enjoyed that she had people she could trust to use it._ _

__Alec flopped into the seat next to her, “Hey, Devi,” he said with a grin._ _

__}*{_ _

__After a disastrous attempt to surprise her, Devina had modified her security to notify her, not only when someone accessed her flat, but _who_ had accessed her flat. So this evening, it was no shock when she stepped in and there was another person in her space._ _

__The smell of cooking food wafted into the foyer along with James and she smiled at him._ _

__“Smells wonderful,” she said as she stepped forward to hug him. He returned her embrace and kissed the side of her neck before he let go._ _

__He hummed in appreciation before he spoke, “It’s just us, tonight. Tristan and Alec went out, so I wanted to do something for us.”_ _

__She smiled in response before asking, “How long do I have?” She took in the casual clothing he was wearing and thought that a shower and a change would do her good. She had spent a good portion of her day welding and had wanted the comfort of home much more then she had wanted to be clean before she got there._ _

__“A half hour or so,” he told her, eyeing her speculatively._ _

__She laughed and shoved him playfully, “I’m going to shower and change, then.”_ _

__She walked toward the master suite and her on-demand heated shower._ _

__The terrifying thing hadn’t happened, yet, but James and Alec fit with her and Tristan in such a way that it was inevitable. They were learning to depend on one another and the trust that was passed around between them was growing stronger each day._ _

__She smiled, knowing that it wouldn’t always be rainbows, but that by then, they’d be strong enough to weather the storm._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcome and encouraged.  
> I had a great time writing this and hope that you have enjoyed it, as well.  
> This was my first, well, anything really, that I have written for public consumption. Please feel free to comment and let me know what you thought!
> 
> Belatedly, I don't own anything to do with James Bond, or the characters found within that world.
> 
> Thanks!


End file.
